Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-04

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 ,

I am writing this letter in response to recent article that you wrote on town centre in BBC newspaper. I found this article very interesting and informative. However there are some points; I find irrelevant.

I agree that many town centres have same type of shops, cafe, fast-food restaurants. Some of them have same kind of architecture or design, which make them look alike.

Whereas, what makes it unique from other centres are public park , traditional food restaurants that are family owned and famous old food market. The park covers a wide area with a lot of swings and slides for kids and a fountain in the middle make it really astonishing. Restaurants and food market has fresh produce and some historical objects.

I would be happy to give the writer of the article a guided tour. So, he can explore the unique architecture and shops at the town centre and do not consider every town centre same as other.

Thanks for your valuable time.

Your sincerely,

Sukhwinder.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

You have addressed all three bullet points required by the task. You clearly stated your partial agreement with the article, provided specific examples of how your town differs (the park, family-owned restaurants, and the food market), and extended a polite invitation for a guided tour. The tone is appropriate for a letter to an editor. To reach a higher band, ensure your ideas are more fully developed; for instance, describing the 'historical objects' in the market or the specific architectural style of your town would provide more depth and better support your position.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter is logically organized, with each paragraph focusing on a distinct part of the prompt. You use some cohesive devices, such as 'However', 'Whereas', and 'So', to link your ideas. However, the progression between sentences is sometimes a bit mechanical. For example, the transition between the park description and the restaurant description could be smoother. Additionally, some referencing is slightly unclear, such as 'what makes it unique'—it would be better to explicitly name the town or the subject being discussed. Overall, the paragraphing is appropriate and the message is easy to follow.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using words like 'informative', 'astonishing', and 'produce'. There are some minor errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'recent article that you wrote on town centre' (should be 'the town centre') and 'do not consider every town centre same as other' (should be 'the same as others'). While you attempt to use some descriptive language, the vocabulary remains somewhat basic. To improve, try to incorporate more precise adjectives and collocations to describe the unique features of your town.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are several grammatical slips, particularly with articles ('on town centre', 'in BBC newspaper') and subject-verb agreement ('Restaurants and food market has' should be 'have'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, such as the semicolon usage in the first paragraph and the missing comma after 'Dear sir'. These errors do not impede communication, but they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. Focusing on article usage and pluralization will help improve your accuracy.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.