Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-10-30

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 Sir or Madam,

I am writing to request you that I am interested in working overseas in our company's head office.

I recently came to know about that our company is sending one of our team member to head branch for training purpose, and I would be greatful if I could get a chance to go there. As this opportunity will not only provided with internation exposure but also helps to establish close connection with hire management.

As a marketing planner I work online and attend meeting on Zoom. To compensate the time zone issue, I could do work after hours. All my clients are flexible therefore I would be the perfect candidate for this offer.

As you working at management lavel; your raference would boost my chances to grab this opportunity.

Thanks for cosidering my letter.

Sincerly

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address the three main points: you explain that you want international exposure and closer contact with senior management, describe working online and adjusting your hours, and ask your manager to support your application. However, the reasons for the six-month placement are brief, and the work-arrangement plan would benefit from more detail, such as how you would coordinate with colleagues or maintain client coverage. The request for help is also indirect: “your reference would boost my chances” does not clearly ask the manager to arrange or formally support the placement. The response is 11 words below the required minimum, so it has less space to develop these points. Make the request explicit and add relevant details to fully address the task.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The letter has a coherent overall arrangement: the opening states your purpose, followed by paragraphs about your motivation and work arrangements, then a request for support. This makes the main message easy to follow. Linking phrases such as “not only…but also” and “therefore” help connect ideas, although the relationship between some points is not fully clear—for example, the link between flexible clients and being the “perfect candidate” could be explained. The final request and closing are very brief, so the letter ends somewhat abruptly. To improve progression, make each paragraph focus on one task point and use a clear transition into a direct request for your manager’s assistance.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant workplace vocabulary, including “head office,” “time zone,” “clients,” and “management,” and phrases such as “establish close connection” show an attempt to express more specific ideas. However, several spelling and word-choice errors reduce accuracy, including “greatful,” “internation exposure,” “hire management,” and “raference.” Some expressions are also unnatural for a formal request, such as “grab this opportunity” and “came to know about.” These do not prevent the reader from understanding your purpose, but they make the letter less polished. Aim for accurate, natural collocations and check spelling carefully; for example, use “senior management” and “I recently learned that” in this context.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including the “not only…but also” construction and a conditional-style explanation of how you could work around the time difference. The main ideas remain understandable, but some grammatical errors affect accuracy. For example, “I am writing to request you that” has an incorrect sentence pattern, while “will not only provided” uses the wrong verb form and “As you working” is missing an auxiliary verb. There are also issues with articles and number agreement in “one of our team member.” Practise standard request structures such as “I am writing to ask whether…” and check verb forms and agreement when combining clauses.

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

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