Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-09-15
IELTS Writing Task 1 question
You work for an international company, and would like to spend six months working in its head office in another country. Write a letter to your manager. In your letter
- explain why you want to work in the company's head office for six months
- say how your work could be done while you are away
- ask for his/her help in arranging it
You do NOT need to write any addresses.
Begin your letter as follows:
Dear ................. ,
Student answer (Band 5.5)
Dear Pee,
I am writing this letter to inform you that my name is Daman and I am working in your company as a senior software engineer for two years. And I would like to work in our company (Sevenrocks) head office for six months. I want to earn new experience of work related to advance software development through work under the head team or management to shape my career.
I know it is hard to work two places and manage both works. But I assure you that this settlement will not create any impact on my office work. I will manage my schedule according to timetable. You also know that I am very punctual regarding the deadlines. I will learn new work untill 5 o" clock and after that do my job through online or work from home.
I know you have authority to talk with higher management regarding recommendation. So, plaese arrange or settle all the arrangement overthere. With your help I can easily achive new level of advancement in software engineer.
Thankyou for your attention to this matter. Ilook forward to receiving a response from you soon
Daman
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The candidate successfully covers all three bullet points required in the task prompt. First, the writer explains the reason for wanting to work in the head office, which is to gain new experience in advanced software development and shape their career. Second, the response addresses how the work will be managed during the absence by proposing to work remotely after hours. Third, the student asks for the manager's help in arranging the transfer. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat limited and constrained by the overall brevity and simplistic tone, placing this performance solidly at Band 6.0.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The letter follows a logical organizational structure with clear paragraphing corresponding to the different parts of the prompt. Opening and closing conventions are appropriately used. However, the use of cohesive devices is at times repetitive and mechanical, such as the frequent reliance on sentences starting with 'I' and simple conjunctions like 'And' and 'But' to link thoughts. Referencing is generally clear, though paragraph transitions feel somewhat abrupt, resulting in an overall coherent layout that meets the requirements for a Band 6.0.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing the writer to communicate their basic message regarding work arrangements and career goals. There are several inappropriate word choices and collocations, such as 'earn new experience' instead of 'gain experience', and spelling or phrasing errors like 'advance software development' instead of 'advanced software development'. The candidate attempts some less common vocabulary such as 'punctual' and 'recommendation', but frequent minor lexical inaccuracies prevent the score from rising above Band 5.5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over structure with constructions like 'I am writing this letter to inform you that...' and 'With your help I can easily achieve...'. However, there are numerous grammatical errors throughout the text, including tense issues ('is working... for two years' instead of 'have been working'), preposition errors ('work two places'), and punctuation mistakes. These errors occasionally cause slight confusion for the reader, aligning the performance with Band 5.0.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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