Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

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

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 or Madam,

I hope you find this message well. I am writing this letter to give you response on your recent advertisement in Australian magazine.

I am planning to come Australia next month as I recently got approved my visitor visa. While, I spend my time there I would need an accomodation and work for my expenses.

I am suitable person to get this opportunity, as I have previous experience as a care taker about eight months. Moreover, I love small kids, I have good skills in making rapport with children and I have funny and friendly nature.

In my leisure time, I would like to go to meet my friends. Additionally, being a solo traveller I would also love to explore travel destination.

I would appreciate if you select me as an employer and l am looking forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully,

Pragati Nanera

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The letter addresses all three bullet points: explaining the motivation, detailing suitability, and describing leisure time. However, the response is slightly under the 150-word minimum, which impacts the overall task completion. While the ideas are relevant, they are somewhat underdeveloped; for instance, the description of your 'previous experience' and 'leisure time' could have been expanded with more specific details to fully satisfy the requirements. The tone is generally appropriate for a formal letter, but the brevity prevents a more thorough development of the points requested in the prompt.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter is logically organized into clear paragraphs, which helps the reader follow your points. You use basic cohesive devices such as 'Moreover', 'Additionally', and 'While', which provide a degree of structure. However, the flow between some sentences is slightly mechanical, and the transition between the introduction and the body paragraphs could be smoother. The use of paragraphing is appropriate for a formal letter, and the overall progression of ideas is clear, even if the content within those paragraphs is brief.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, such as 'opportunity', 'accommodation', and 'destination'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'give you response on' (should be 'respond to') and 'making rapport' (should be 'building rapport'). You also use 'employer' incorrectly; you are applying for a position, so you would refer to them as the 'family' or 'parents'. The vocabulary is sufficient to convey your meaning, but it lacks the precision and flexibility required for a higher band score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as 'I hope you find this message well' (should be 'I hope this letter finds you well'), 'got approved my visitor visa' (should be 'had my visitor visa approved'), and 'I am suitable person' (missing article 'a'). Additionally, 'While, I spend my time there' contains an unnecessary comma. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they occur frequently enough to suggest a lack of control over more complex grammatical forms.

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

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