Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-10-09

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 Mr. adrian,

I would like to do request about the opportunity to work in head office in my country, This letter will explaning what my main reason for this positions and conditions.

Firstly, I would like to let you know about why I want to take this this job aprox fro six month in my country, because I will spend the time to look after my parents,since its been while I worked in overseas. In addition, my parents is was sick and they need more controling for their condition. For example, taking the medicine and visiting doctor.

Furthermore, before I am going to my country I will push the rest of my job to be done and also preparing any extra duties in my office to be cover during my away. Although, i have been to ask my best office friend to help me for managed my job if something happen during my away. I hope you will approve my requested and understand with my family situations. Thanks you so much for your attention.

Best regard.

Your sincerely,

Wira

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address the main purpose by requesting a six-month placement and explaining that you want to be near your parents, whose health needs attention. You also mention preparing your duties and asking a colleague to help, so the key points are present. However, the reason for choosing the company’s head office is not clearly explained: “in my country” and caring for your parents are mentioned, but the connection to working at the head office remains unclear. The work-arrangement point is also under-developed because you do not specify which tasks could be handled remotely, delegated, or completed before leaving. To make the request more complete, explain how the placement benefits your work and propose a practical coverage plan.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The letter has a recognisable sequence: you introduce the request, give your personal reason, describe preparations for your absence, and close by asking for approval. Paragraphing and signposts such as “Firstly” and “Furthermore” help the reader follow the main points. However, progression is sometimes unclear because several ideas are crowded into long sentences, and the link between working at the head office and caring for your parents is not made explicit. The repeated “during my away” also makes the work-coverage point harder to follow. Use separate, focused sentences for your reason, proposed arrangements, and request for assistance, and connect each paragraph more directly to the purpose of the letter.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant workplace and family vocabulary, including “head office,” “duties,” “parents,” and “condition,” which makes the general topic understandable. However, the range is limited and several word-choice, collocation, and spelling problems make parts of the letter difficult to interpret, such as “do request,” “more controling,” and “approve my requested.” Some expressions are also repeated, including “during my away.” Aim to learn complete, natural phrases for formal requests and work arrangements, rather than translating word by word. More precise vocabulary would help you explain the placement and your proposed cover arrangements clearly and professionally.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and longer sentences, including a reason clause beginning “because” and a sentence introduced by “Although.” However, complex sentences are often faulty, and errors in verb forms, agreement, articles, and sentence boundaries occur frequently enough to make some meanings difficult to follow. For example, “my parents is was sick” combines incompatible verb forms, while “I will push the rest of my job to be done” has an unclear grammatical construction. The opening also joins separate ideas with a comma and uses inconsistent capitalisation. Practise building accurate short sentences first, then combine them with one clear subordinate clause. Check subject–verb agreement and verb tense before sending the letter.

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