Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-09

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 Editor,

I am writing to express my opinion about an article that was published in your newspaper on Thursday. In that write-up, titled "The Indian Towns", you have claimed that all the town centres in our country look very similar to each other. However, I do not agree with this notion of yours as I feel that the towns across our country vary considerably from one region to another.

If we compare the two major towns of our UT, we can clearly understand how much the town centres in Jammu city differ from those of Srinagar city. Firstly, there are some physical differences in the terrain and climate. Then we have huge socio- cultural differences as well. Coming to the town centres, the shops are completely of the different architecture and the sizes also vary a great deal.

The size and shape of the twon centres also varies in a lot of aspects. The types of shops are also completely different and the only similarity is that of The transport facilities. This was just a comparison of two cities from our own UT, and if I compare the rest of the towns of the country, it would take much more time to explain.

In conclusion, I request you to kindly give thought to an idea or article before publishing it as it might be misleading for the masses.

Yours sincerely,

Zoya

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

You have addressed the main requirements of the task, such as stating your disagreement and providing examples of how your town differs. However, you failed to include the final bullet point: offering to give a guided tour of your town to the writer. This is a significant omission that prevents the response from fully addressing all parts of the prompt. While your position is clear and your arguments are relevant, the lack of this specific instruction limits your score. To improve, ensure you check off every bullet point in the task instructions before finalizing your letter.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter is organized into logical paragraphs, and there is a clear progression of ideas from the introduction to the conclusion. You use some cohesive devices, such as 'Firstly' and 'In conclusion', which help the reader follow your argument. However, some transitions feel a bit mechanical, and the referencing between sentences could be smoother. For example, the transition between the second and third paragraphs is slightly repetitive. Overall, the structure is coherent, and the paragraphing is used appropriately to separate your main points.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'socio-cultural', 'architecture', and 'misleading'. However, there are some instances of slightly unnatural phrasing, such as 'notion of yours' and 'write-up'. Additionally, there is a minor spelling error ('twon'). While your vocabulary is sufficient to convey your meaning clearly, you need to incorporate a wider range of less common lexical items and ensure more precise collocations to reach a higher band score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, which is appropriate for this task. Most of your sentences are clear and easy to follow. There are some minor grammatical slips, such as 'the only similarity is that of The transport facilities' (unnecessary capitalization and awkward phrasing) and 'the shops are completely of the different architecture' (incorrect preposition usage). Despite these errors, your meaning is never obscured. To improve, focus on refining your use of articles and prepositions to achieve greater accuracy in your complex sentences.

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

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