Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-09-01

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 am writing this letter to show my genuine interest in job opportunity advertisement that I shown in Australian magazine yesterday.

Myself Zinal Patel and I am residing in Australia on Student Visa and pursuing Masters at Melbourne University. I was looking for a job and a shelter for next few months until I got my Work permit. Moreover, I like to play with kids. Hence, I will feel very happy to have this job.

Previously, I was working as assistant at childcare hospital. Hence, I am familier with taking care of children. In addition, I had done my bachelor's in child sycology. Hence, I feel that this may be a good fit for me as it aligns with my experience.

I generally spend my free time by attending networking seminars and exploring new places. So that I can get more information about Australian culture. Thus, I feel that by doing this job I can get more aware about your culture.

I hope you will consider my request.

Hoping for your positive reply.

Thanking you,

Yours faithfully,

Zinal Patel.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The letter covers all three bullet points required by the prompt: explaining the interest in the job, detailing suitability, and describing free-time activities. The tone is generally appropriate for a formal letter. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, the explanation of why you are a suitable candidate mentions a 'childcare hospital' and 'child sycology' (psychology), but these points could be expanded with more specific details about your duties or skills to make a more persuasive case. The response addresses the task requirements effectively, but the depth of information provided is basic.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The letter is organized into clear paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. You use some cohesive devices such as 'Moreover', 'Hence', and 'In addition' to link ideas. However, the use of 'Hence' is repetitive, appearing three times in short succession, which makes the flow feel mechanical. Additionally, some sentences are quite short and choppy, which affects the overall fluency. Improving the variety of linking words and combining some sentences would enhance the logical progression of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, such as 'residing', 'pursuing', and 'aligns with my experience'. However, there are some noticeable errors in word choice and spelling, such as 'child sycology' instead of 'child psychology' and 'familier' instead of 'familiar'. The phrase 'childcare hospital' is also slightly unnatural; 'childcare center' or 'nursery' would be more appropriate. While the vocabulary is sufficient to convey your meaning, the errors and the limited range prevent a higher score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The letter contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as 'job opportunity advertisement that I shown' (should be 'that I saw' or 'that was shown'), 'Myself Zinal Patel' (incorrect pronoun usage), and 'I had done my bachelor's' (tense error; 'I completed' is better). Punctuation is generally acceptable, but the frequent errors in verb forms and sentence construction occasionally distract the reader, though they do not fully impede communication.

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

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