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                   Report of Independent Auditors

To the Board of Trustees
John Hancock Variable Series Trust I

In planning and performing our audit of the financial  statements of John
Hancock Variable Series Trust I (comprising, respectively,  the Large Cap
Growth,   Sovereign  Bond,   International  Equity   Index     (formerly,
International Equities),  Small Cap Growth,  International Balanced,  Mid
Cap Growth,  Large Cap Value,  Money Market,  Mid Cap Value,  Diversified
Mid Cap Growth  (formerly,  Special Opportunities),   Real Estate Equity,
Growth & Income,  Managed,  Short-Term  Bond  (formerly,  Short-Term U.S.
Government),   Small  Cap  Value,  International  Opportunities,   Equity
Index, Strategic Bond, Small/Mid Cap Core,  High Yield Bond,  Bond Index,
Global Equity, and Emerging Markets Equity Portfolios) for the year ended
December 31, 1998, we considered its internal control,  including control
activities   for  safeguarding   securities,  in order to  determine  our
auditing  procedures  for the purpose of  expressing our  opinion on  the
financial statements  and  to comply with the requirements of Form N-SAR,
and not to provide assurance on the internal control.

The management of John Hancock Variable Series Trust I is responsible for
establishing  and  maintaining  internal control.    In  fulfilling  this
responsibility, estimates and  judgments by management  are  required  to
assess the expected benefits and  related  costs of controls.  Generally,
controls that are relevant to an audit  pertain to the entity's objective
of preparing financial statements for external  purposes  that are fairly
presented in conformity with generally  accepted  accounting  principles.
Those controls include  the safeguarding  of assets against  unauthorized
acquisition, use or disposition.

Because of inherent limitations in internal control, errors or fraud  may
occur  and  not  be  detected.   Also, projection  of  any  evaluation of
internal  control  to  future periods is subject  to the risk that it may
become   inadequate  because   of changes  in  conditions  or  that   the
effectiveness  of  the    design  and  operation   may  deteriorate.  Our
consideration  of the internal control would not necessarily disclose all
matters  in internal  control that   might be  material weaknesses  under
standards  established  by  the  American Institute  of Certified  Public
Accountants.   A material weakness  is a condition in which the design or
operation  of one  or more  of  specific internal control components does
not reduce  to a relatively low  level the  risk that  errors or fraud in
amounts that would  be material  in  relation to the financial statements
being audited may  occur  and not be  detected within  a timely period by
employees in the  normal course  of performing  their assigned functions.
However,   we  noted   no matters  involving  internal  control  and  its
operation,   including  controls  for  safeguarding securities,  that  we
consider to be material weaknesses as defined above at December 31,1998.

This report is intended solely for the information and use  of  the Board
of Trustees  and  management  of John Hancock Variable Series Trust I and
the Securities  and Exchange  Commission and  is not  intended  to be and
should not be used by anyone other than these specified parties.



February 10, 1999				ERNST & YOUNG LLP
Boston, Massachusetts

     Ernst & Young LLP is a member of Ernst & Young International, Ltd.