Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-10-05

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

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

Dear ................. ,

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Dear sir,

I am writing this letter reragrding working for six months in companys' head office which is in another country. I want to work there because I will get chance to work with my seniors which helps me to build relations with them and I will experience and knowlegde about handling the wide projects.However, our company is international , though I will get access to the career growth opportunities and influence high level strategy. As, I am going for six months that is why i am trying to complete my most of my work before I am leaving . Additionally I was thinking that if there is any kind of emergency where you need my help during those six months,so I will manage it online.But in case, we also need somebody for six months on my place, It is my request to you to arrange somebody. I will be thankful to you.

Your sincerely,

Jashan

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.0
Coherence and Cohesion4.5
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.5
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, successfully covering the reasons for wanting to work in the head office, how the work could be managed while away, and asking for help with arrangements. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat uneven. While the explanation of why you want to move—such as to 'build relations' with seniors and 'influence high level strategy'—is reasonably clear, other areas are handled more briefly. For instance, the section explaining how work will be done while away relies on general statements like 'I will manage it online' without exploring specific details or operational arrangements. This unevenness in depth keeps the response at the current level, as more fully extended and supported ideas are required for higher bands.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

The letter lacks proper paragraphing, as it is written as a single dense block of text, which significantly impacts the logical flow and visual organisation of the letter. While there is an overall attempt to arrange ideas sequentially—moving from the purpose of the letter to reasons, coverage of work, and finally a request for assistance—the lack of paragraph breaks makes the transitions feel abrupt. Furthermore, cohesive devices are handled awkwardly, with repetitive or mechanical linking choices such as 'However', 'As', and 'Additionally'. Referencing is also occasionally unclear, particularly with pronouns and conjunctions like 'though I will get access' and 'that is why i am trying', which disrupts the natural progression of the ideas.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

An adequate vocabulary range is employed to complete the task, successfully communicating the main points regarding a temporary transfer. There are successful attempts to use less common business-related phrases, such as 'career growth opportunities' and 'high level strategy'. However, the vocabulary is marred by a noticeable number of spelling, word-choice, and word-formation errors that detract from precision. Examples include 'reragrding' instead of regarding, 'companys'' with faulty apostrophe placement, 'knowlegde' instead of knowledge, and awkward phrasing such as 'on my place' instead of in my place. These lexical and spelling inaccuracies do not completely impede communication, but they prevent the writing from achieving a higher rating.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting multi-clause sentences such as 'I want to work there because I will get chance to work with my seniors which helps me to build relations with them'. Grammatical control is mixed; there are several errors in article usage, such as missing articles ('get chance', 'in case, we also need somebody for six months on my place'), prepositional errors ('work for six months' instead of in, 'work in companys' head office'), and clunky punctuation and conjunction placement, such as 'during those six months,so I will manage it online.' While these errors are present, they are relatively minor and rarely impede overall understanding, allowing the reader to follow the intended message without major difficulty.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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