Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-08-03

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

You have seen an advertisement in an Australian magazine for someone to live with a family for six months and look after their six-year-old child.

Write a letter to the parents. In your letter

• explain why you would like the job
• give details of why you would be a suitable person to employ
• say how you would spend your free time while you are in Australia

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

Dear Sir or Madam,

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Dear Sir,

I am writing my concern regarding the take care of your growing child in the article and position of your family.

Firstly, I would like to hold that opportunity not just like an informal job but, i have an interest in the concerned field. Moreover, i have a two years of experience in childcare and I am keen to gain Australian culture.I believe that living with local family would be an excellent opportunity for both cultural and personal development.

Secondly, as i mentioned before i did job in babysitter for children.Therefore, i would be a suitable candidate for this position.Furthermore, I have a six months experience of patient handling and i completed my workshops on first aid. Additionally, i enjoy playing cricket, volleyball, tennis and other recreational activities which helps children learn and having fun.

During my free time in Australia, i would like to spend my time in exploring the local areas, visiting museums and improve my English by interacting with native peoples.

Yours faithfully,

XYZ.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

You have addressed all three bullet points in the prompt: explaining your interest, detailing your suitability, and describing your free-time plans. The tone is generally appropriate for a formal letter. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. For example, while you mention your experience in childcare and first aid, these points could be expanded with more specific examples of your duties or achievements to make your application more persuasive. The opening sentence is slightly awkward and unclear regarding the specific advertisement. To improve, ensure that your introduction clearly states the purpose of the letter and that each body paragraph provides sufficient detail to fully support your claims.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The letter is organized into logical paragraphs, which helps the reader follow your points. You use some cohesive devices such as 'Firstly', 'Moreover', 'Secondly', and 'Furthermore' to link your ideas. However, some of these transitions feel a bit mechanical or are used slightly incorrectly, such as 'I would like to hold that opportunity'. The flow between sentences could be smoother; some sentences feel disjointed. To reach a higher band, focus on using a wider variety of cohesive devices and ensure that the relationship between sentences is more natural and less reliant on simple list-like connectors.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You have a sufficient range of vocabulary to communicate your message effectively. You use relevant terms like 'childcare', 'candidate', 'recreational activities', and 'cultural development'. There are some instances of slightly unnatural word choices, such as 'I am writing my concern regarding the take care of your growing child' and 'I did job in babysitter'. These errors do not impede communication, but they do limit the precision of your writing. To improve, focus on learning common collocations (e.g., 'I worked as a babysitter' instead of 'I did job in babysitter') and using more sophisticated vocabulary to describe your professional experience.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While you are able to convey your meaning, there are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text. Examples include 'I have a two years of experience' (article error), 'I completed my workshops' (preposition/article usage), and 'which helps children learn and having fun' (parallel structure error). Additionally, there are consistent issues with capitalization, such as the lowercase 'i' used throughout the letter. While these errors rarely prevent understanding, they are frequent enough to impact the overall accuracy of your writing. Focusing on basic subject-verb agreement and article usage will help improve your score.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.