Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-22

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 6.0)

Dear Sir,

I hope you are doing great. I am writing regarding an article of your newspaper which claims that all town centres seems to be same with each other in the country. However, I am not agree with this completely. No doubt, that there are some restaurants, stores, shopping mall which looks similar with other towns and I do agree with those.

More interestingly, my town has historic buildings which has been preserved from years. While, other modern towns does not have. Moreover, local sellers sells fresh vegetables and fruits in market during weekends. Although, there are farmers who grow fruits and vegetables in their land. In fact there are many people who owned their small independent businesses. I believe these features make my town quite different from other towns. I would like to give you a tour personally, so you can feel its atmosphere and enjoy the local simplicity of my town.

I hope to hear back from you soon.

Yours sincerely,

Simran

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The letter addresses all three bullet points of the prompt. You clearly state your partial agreement with the article, provide specific examples of how your town differs (historic buildings, local markets, independent businesses), and include the required offer for a guided tour. The tone is appropriate for a letter to an editor. However, the development of ideas is somewhat brief. To reach a higher band, you could expand slightly on why the historic buildings or the independent businesses create a unique atmosphere, rather than just listing them. Overall, the response is relevant and fulfills the task requirements effectively.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter is logically organized into clear paragraphs, with an introduction, body, and conclusion. You use some cohesive devices such as 'However', 'Moreover', and 'Although' to link your ideas. However, some transitions are slightly mechanical or misused, such as 'More interestingly' to start a paragraph, which does not quite fit the context of the previous sentence. Additionally, the use of 'While' at the start of a sentence followed by a comma is grammatically awkward. Improving the flow between sentences and ensuring that cohesive devices are used more naturally would enhance the overall coherence.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'independent businesses', 'preserved', and 'atmosphere'. There are some minor errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'I am not agree' (should be 'I do not agree') and 'seems to be same with each other' (should be 'seem to be the same as each other'). While these errors do not impede communication, they indicate a need for more precise control over common phrases. Expanding your vocabulary to include more descriptive adjectives or idiomatic expressions would help elevate your score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors that affect the accuracy of your writing. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('town centres seems', 'buildings which has been', 'sellers sells') and incorrect verb forms ('people who owned' instead of 'people who own'). Punctuation is generally clear, but the sentence structure is occasionally fragmented, particularly with the use of 'Although' and 'While' as sentence starters. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and consistent tense usage will significantly improve your grammatical accuracy.

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

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