Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

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

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 express my disappointment with your recent article in a local periodical that reflects the city centres in my home country looks identical.

I am delighted that you concluded the importance and the story behind the structures of the buildings. The architecture placements of the markets, local malls and shopping centre has their own meaning.

My city Ahmedabad has several qualties which differs it from other metropolitan towns. The structure of the buildings has been inspired by the ancient sculptures. Each structure has the notion to describe the history of the city.

I would be pleased to offer you a tour of my town if you are interested. My city has many old places to visit from where you could gain some ideas to write another articles. You will get an insights to describe more about my town through your practical observations.

I am looking forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully,

Anjali

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The student has successfully addressed all three bullet points required in the prompt. First, the writer acknowledges agreement with points relating to the historical value of buildings, stating: 'I am delighted that you concluded the importance and the story behind the structures of the buildings.' Second, the response explains how the writer's town of Ahmedabad differs by incorporating ancient sculptures and specific historical architectural notions. Finally, the letter offers a guided tour of the town. The tone is appropriate for a letter to the editor. However, some ideas are slightly under-developed and lack extension. For instance, the mention of how the city differs could have included more specific examples of architecture. Overall, all parts of the task are covered, earning a solid Band 6.5.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter is organised into clear, distinct paragraphs with a logical overall arrangement. The response starts with a standard opening and concludes appropriately with a sign-off. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'My city Ahmedabad has several qualties...' and 'I would be pleased to offer...', but referencing and linking between sentences can occasionally feel somewhat mechanical or abrupt. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately to separate the introduction, points of agreement, town differences, the offer for a tour, and the conclusion. There is a clear logical progression from stating the purpose of the letter to offering the tour, fitting the criteria for Band 6.5 well.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, attempting some less common items such as 'periodical', 'metropolitan towns', and 'practical observations'. However, there are noticeable lexical inaccuracies and spelling errors that prevent a higher band, such as 'qualties' instead of qualities, 'differs it' instead of differentiates it, and 'insights' used as a singular noun ('an insights'). Collocations are sometimes awkward, such as 'concluded the importance' rather than commended or acknowledged. Despite these slips, communication is never impeded, and the range is sufficient to convey the intended meaning, placing this firmly at Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as conditional clauses ('if you are interested') and relative clauses. However, there are several grammatical errors throughout the response. For example, there is a subject-verb agreement error in the opening paragraph: 'the city centres in my home country looks identical' instead of 'look identical'. Additionally, 'architecture placements' should be 'architectural placement', and 'another articles' should be 'other articles'. Punctuation is generally fine, and simple sentences are usually accurate, but the frequency of errors in complex forms keeps the grammar score at a Band 6.0.

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

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