Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-14

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 to provide feedback on the article about town centres that was published in this weeks issue of the newspaper.

Firstly, I agree that there are a few similarities between the town centres in our country. For instance, the article rightfully points at how similar style of small scale shopping markets and gated communities are present all across the country.

However, I would like to emphasize that my town, sabza town is unique in terms of its rich history and how it attracts toutists. The Army Museum and Grand Baksh Mosque , both symbolise the historic culture therefore, have been preserved.

It'll be a pleasure for me if you would allow me to provide you a tour around the town, my whole family has been living here and can offer you in depth guide in terms of knowledge and sightseeing.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully,

Ben Mand

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The candidate has successfully addressed all three bullet points required by the prompt. First, agreement with the newspaper article is established through mentioning similarities such as shopping markets and gated communities. Second, the response clearly explains how the writer's town, Sabza Town, is unique due to its rich history, mentioning the Army Museum and Grand Baksh Mosque. Finally, the writer offers to give a guided tour of the town to the article's author. The tone is appropriate for a letter to the editor. Ideas are appropriately developed, fulfilling the task requirements effectively. Overall, the response meets all the demands of the task in a clear and coherent manner, demonstrating a good understanding of the General Training letter format.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter exhibits a clear logical organisation with an appropriate opening and closing. Paragraphing is used sufficiently to separate distinct ideas, moving smoothly from general agreement to specific differences, and finally to the offer of a tour. Cohesive devices such as 'Firstly', 'However', and 'For instance' are employed to guide the reader through the text, though referencing and paragraph cohesion could be slightly more polished. For instance, the transition in the second paragraph could be smoother. Nevertheless, the overall arrangement is coherent and easy to follow, allowing the reader to navigate the letter without confusion. Paragraphing choices reflect a clear structure suitable for a semi-formal letter.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The candidate demonstrates a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey meaning with some flexibility. Words and phrases such as 'feedback', 'similarities', 'gated communities', 'unique', and 'preserved' show adequate lexical control. However, there are some minor inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'points at' instead of 'points to', and spelling slips like 'toutists' instead of 'tourists'. Capitalisation errors are also present, such as 'sabza town'. Despite these lapses, the vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing the writer to express ideas related to town planning and tourism satisfactorily, placing the response comfortably within the Band 6 range.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as 'I am writing to provide feedback on the article about town centres that was published...' and 'However, I would like to emphasize that my town, sabza town is unique in terms of its rich history...' There are several grammatical and punctuation errors throughout the text, including missing apostrophes ('weeks issue' instead of 'week's issue'), run-on sentence structures with comma splices ('...historic culture therefore, have been preserved'), and issues with capitalization. Despite these errors, they rarely impede overall communication, and the intended meaning remains clear. A greater control over punctuation and complex sentence formulation would elevate the score further.

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.