Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-08-13

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 Mom and Dad,

Hope this letter finds you well. I’m writing this letter to inform that I’ve decided to work as a caretaker for a six-year- old child here in Australia. I recently saw a commercial in a magazine for this job.

I’m interested in this job because I already have experience in taking care of my little sister from her childhood, which I enjoyed a lot.

Since I’m pursuing a course related to radiography, I’ve been taught about patient care including paediatric care, I think I would be suitable because I can apply those skills here too.

I have classes only 3 days a week. I get lot of leisure time. Till last week, I worked in a supermarket, since the store was shut permanently, currently I don’t have any part-time job. So this would be a great opportunity for me to earn some income.

Looking forward for your opinion and reply.

With love,

Ram

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

You have addressed all three bullet points in the prompt. You explained your motivation, highlighted your suitability through your radiography studies and childcare experience, and mentioned your availability. However, the third bullet point regarding how you would spend your free time in Australia is not addressed; you only mention that you have free time, not how you intend to spend it. To reach a higher band, ensure every part of the prompt is fully developed. The tone is also slightly inconsistent; you began with the required 'Dear Sir or Madam' but then switched to 'Dear Mom and Dad,' which is inappropriate for a formal job application.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The letter is organized into short paragraphs, which helps the reader follow your points. However, the use of cohesive devices is quite limited. You rely on simple sentence structures and lack transition words to link your ideas smoothly. For example, the transition between your childcare experience and your radiography studies is abrupt. Using linking words like 'furthermore,' 'consequently,' or 'in addition' would improve the flow of your writing. The paragraphing is functional, but the overall progression of ideas could be more sophisticated to achieve a higher score.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

Your vocabulary is adequate for the task but remains quite basic. You use common phrases like 'taking care of' and 'great opportunity.' While these are accurate, they do not demonstrate a wide range of lexical items. There are some minor issues with word choice, such as using 'commercial' instead of 'advertisement' in the context of a magazine. To improve, try to incorporate more precise vocabulary related to childcare or professional experience. Your spelling is generally accurate throughout the letter, which is a positive point.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are several grammatical errors. For example, 'I’m writing this letter to inform that I’ve decided' is missing an object (inform you). You also have some punctuation and phrasing issues, such as 'six-year- old' (extra space) and 'I get lot of leisure time' (missing article 'a'). While these errors do not prevent the reader from understanding your message, they occur frequently enough to impact the overall accuracy. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and article usage will help you improve.

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

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