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

Although I agree that most of the metropolitan cities have quite the same design of the midtown, high rise building, lot of pedestrians, cyclists and overcrowded 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 towns like Orangeville, Bolton, Hope. Take my town, Orangeville, it has a very peaceful and happening downtown with people moving around happily, yet not choatic bustle of a major 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 7.0

You have successfully addressed all three bullet points required in the prompt. You began your letter by stating which points in the article you agreed with, specifically mentioning the similarities in metropolitan downtowns, high-rise buildings, and crowded streets. Furthermore, you explained how your town centre is different by contrasting major megacities with the peaceful environment of Orangeville, Bolton, and Hope. Finally, you successfully offered to give a guided tour of your town to the writer. Your purpose is clear, and the tone is appropriate for a letter to the editor. Your ideas are relevant and sufficiently extended, fulfilling all requirements of the task.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

Your letter follows a clear logical organization and progression throughout. You start with an appropriate greeting, transition smoothly into your agreement and disagreement, and conclude politely before signing off. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately, separating the introduction, the body paragraphs detailing your points, the tour invitation, and the sign-off. Cohesive devices are used adequately, such as 'Although I agree', 'For that you will have to', and 'Take my town'. However, referencing and transitions in the second paragraph feel slightly abrupt at times, such as 'For that you will have to make trips to the towns like Orangeville, Bolton, Hope', which keeps this criterion at a solid Band 7 level.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'metropolitan cities', 'high-rise building', 'megacity', and 'happening downtown'. However, there are a few lexical inaccuracies and spelling errors, such as spelling 'similar' as 'similiar', using 'choatic' instead of 'chaotic', and awkward phrasing like 'lot of pedestrians, cyclists and overcrowded streets full of corporates', where 'corporates' is used incorrectly to mean corporate workers or businesses. Despite these minor errors, the vocabulary is sufficient to convey your meaning clearly, fitting the Band 6 descriptors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating a reasonable command of grammar. Examples of complex structures include 'Although I agree that most of the metropolitan cities have quite the same design...' and 'Allow me to host you for a tour of my beautiful town as it has some more attractions...'. There are some grammatical errors and awkward punctuation, such as missing an article before 'high-rise building', fragmenting your sentence structure with 'Take my town, Orangeville, it has...', and listing 'Orangeville, Bolton, Hope' without a conjunction. Nevertheless, these errors rarely impede communication, allowing you to achieve a Band 6.

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

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