Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-19

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 the letter in response to your article published in the yesterday's edition of the newspaper about the similarities in the town centres in Canada. I wanted to correct you that not all downtown centres look familiar.

Although I agree that most of the metropolitan cities has quite same design of the midtown, high rise building, lot of pedestrians, cyclists and overcrowding streets full of corporates. I would like to add to your knowledge that visiting smaller towns will allow you to catch a totally different glimpse of the city centres. For that you will have to make trips to the cities like Orangeville, Bolton, Hope. Take my city, Orangeville, it has a very peaceful and happening downtown with people moving around happily, yet not like choatic like a megacity.

Allow me to host you for a tour of my beautiful town as it has some more attractions other than a beautiful downtown.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours Faithfully,

Amitoz Singh

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

You successfully cover all three bullet points required in the task instructions. You begin by stating which points you agree with, mentioning the similarities in large metropolitan cities such as high-rise buildings and overcrowding. You then explain how your town centre, Orangeville, differs by being peaceful and pleasant rather than chaotic. Finally, you offer a guided tour to the writer of the article in the third paragraph. Your position is clear throughout the letter, and the tone is generally appropriate for a letter to the editor. However, some ideas, such as the specific differences in smaller towns, could be slightly more extended to fully meet the higher band descriptors. Therefore, your task achievement is awarded a band 6.5.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter follows a logical paragraph structure that moves appropriately from an introduction and agreement, to specific differences, an invitation, and a polite sign-off. Cohesive devices are used to connect ideas, such as 'Although I agree', 'For that you will have to', and 'Allow me to host you'. However, there are minor issues with referencing and paragraph transitions, such as 'I am writing the letter in response to your article published in the yesterday's edition', which feels slightly abrupt. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately, creating an overall arrangement that is clear and easy to follow. This performance corresponds to a band 6.5.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for this general task, using terms like 'metropolitan cities', 'pedestrians', 'cyclists', and 'attractions'. However, there are notable lexical errors and unnatural word choices throughout the text. For instance, you wrote 'published in the yesterday's edition' (unnecessary article) and 'not all downtown centres look familiar' (where 'similar' was likely intended instead of 'familiar'). Additionally, you used 'choatic' instead of 'chaotic'. While you attempt some less common vocabulary items, these inaccuracies in word choice and collocation place your lexical resource score at a band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as conditional and concessive clauses ('Although I agree that...', 'For that you will have to...'). However, there are several grammatical errors that occur throughout the text. For example, 'most of the metropolitan cities has' contains a subject-verb agreement error, as 'cities' is plural. Furthermore, 'I am writing the letter in response to your article published in the yesterday's edition' contains a redundant article before 'yesterday's'. There is also a punctuation error in the second paragraph with a comma splice ('Take my city, Orangeville, it has...'). These errors show control over simple sentences, but frequent slips in complex structures limit your grammar score to a band 6.0.

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