Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-23

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 am writing this letter to formally discuss your opinion that all town centres throughout the nation look similar.

I totally agree with your statement as all town centres are recently renovated and provided similar look from the outside as well as more facilities are added such as sports centre. In addition, I agree that all the staff members are highly educated.

I believe that our town centre is different from others because it have cinema hall in the basement where educational movies for youngsters are displayed on every weekend. Additionally, centre of our town have antique items that cannot be found anywhere else throughout the country.

I am excited to provide you a guided tour of my place as it will be quite helpful for you to understand that how our town is different from others. I hope you will take this letter into consideration and will accept this offer.

Yours faithfully,

Prabhjot Singh

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response covers all three bullet points required by the prompt. You clearly state which parts of the article you agree with, provide specific examples of how your town is unique (the cinema and antique items), and extend an invitation for a tour. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, the explanation of why the town is different could be more detailed to fully convince the reader. The tone is appropriate for a letter to an editor, and the purpose is clear throughout. To improve, try to elaborate more on the 'why' and 'how' of your arguments to provide a more comprehensive response.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter is logically organized with clear paragraphing. Each paragraph focuses on a specific aspect of the task, which helps the reader follow your argument. You use some cohesive devices such as 'In addition', 'Additionally', and 'as it will be', which help connect your ideas. However, the flow between sentences could be smoother. Some transitions feel a bit mechanical. To reach a higher band, focus on using a wider variety of linking words and ensure that the progression of ideas within paragraphs is more fluid and less reliant on simple additive connectors.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using words like 'formally', 'renovated', and 'consideration'. However, the range is somewhat limited, and there are some minor inaccuracies in word choice, such as 'provided similar look' instead of 'have a similar look' or 'provide you a guided tour' instead of 'offer you a guided tour'. The vocabulary is sufficient to convey your meaning clearly, but it lacks the precision and flexibility required for higher bands. Incorporating more topic-specific collocations related to town planning or urban development would enhance your score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are several grammatical errors that persist. For example, 'it have cinema hall' should be 'it has a cinema hall', and 'centre of our town have antique items' should be 'the centre of our town has antique items'. Additionally, there are minor issues with articles ('the' before 'cinema hall'). While these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. Focus on subject-verb agreement and the correct use of articles to improve your accuracy.

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

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