Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-19

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

You have just read an article in a national newspaper which claims that town centres in your country all look very similar to each other. You don't fully agree with this opinion.

Write a letter to the editor of the newspaper. In your letter

• say which points in the article you agree with
• explain ways in which your town centre is different from most other town centres
• offer to give a guided tour of your town to the writer of the article

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

Dear Sir or Madam,

Student answer (Band 6.5)

Dear Sir or Madam,

I hope you are doing well. My name is Malhar Bhavsar and I am an architecture student of Gujarat University. I recently saw your news article regarding similarities between town centers in our country and I am respectfully and mostly disagree with your opinion.

Firstly, some of the points I agree with you that outside structures of east town and west town is quite similar if you are a visiting for the first time.

However, my home is near north town center and I observed since my childhood that it is a most unique area. We have well maintained heritage buildings which are more than two hundred years old. We have local shops which are famous from more than hundred years and they don't do online orders as they still follows their traditional legacy.

Furthermore, I would like to propose a guided tour of my town so that you can see how astonishing my town is and you can write an article about my town if you feel the same way.

I will wait for your positive response.

Yours Faithfully,

Malhar Bhavsar

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

You have addressed all three bullet points of the task effectively. You clearly stated your partial agreement with the article, provided specific examples of how your town differs (heritage buildings and traditional shops), and included the offer for a guided tour. The tone is appropriate for a letter to an editor. To reach a higher band, ensure your position is stated more naturally; for example, 'I am respectfully and mostly disagree' is grammatically awkward and slightly confusing. Overall, the response is well-focused and fulfills the requirements of the prompt.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The letter is logically organized with clear paragraphing. You use basic cohesive devices such as 'Firstly', 'However', and 'Furthermore' to guide the reader through your arguments. While the progression of ideas is clear, the transition between the introduction and the first body paragraph could be smoother. The use of referencing is generally effective, though some sentences feel slightly disjointed due to minor grammatical issues. Overall, the structure is logical and easy to follow, meeting the requirements for a coherent response.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task. You use some topic-specific terms like 'heritage buildings' and 'traditional legacy'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'outside structures of east town' (which is unclear) and 'famous from more than hundred years' (should be 'for'). While these errors do not impede communication, they limit the precision of your writing. Expanding your range of collocations and refining your use of prepositions would help you achieve a higher score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as 'I am respectfully and mostly disagree' (should be 'I respectfully disagree'), 'if you are a visiting' (should be 'if you are visiting'), and 'they still follows' (subject-verb agreement error). While these errors are noticeable, they do not prevent the reader from understanding your message. To improve, focus on subject-verb agreement and the correct use of articles. Increasing the frequency of error-free complex sentences will help you move toward a higher band.

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

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