Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-28

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 Sir or Madam,

I am writing this letter in the response of an article published in national newspaper that claimed that almost every town centre of Indian cities look similar.

This article was written by an international tourist from Japan and he travelled the most of the well-known cities of India, but found that all look same. I would like to agree with him at some points such as a lively people in the city centres, local markets, street vanders and decorations might look same in the most of the cases.

Nevertheless, I would argue that town centres hold a diffrent history and value in each location. If I say about my town centre it is totally different from the south indian town centres or Eastern city centres in terms of street food and temples. The religious feeling and delicious food courts are mind-blowing and totally distanct from the rest of the focal-points.

From the article, I got to know that writer did not travelled in some of the towns of Banaras. I would like to offer him a guided tour of my town, whenever he is coming back to write again.

I hope to get a reply from you and your response on my this proposal.

Yours sincerely,

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response effectively covers all bullet points outlined in the prompt. You successfully identify which points in the article you agree with, such as the lively atmosphere, local markets, and street vendors. Furthermore, you explain how your town centre differs from others in terms of unique street food, history, and temples, specifically contrasting it with south or eastern city centres. Finally, you appropriately offer to give a guided tour of your town to the writer. The tone is polite and well-suited for a letter to the editor. However, some ideas are slightly generalised or could be developed with a bit more specific detail. Overall, the task is addressed well, fulfilling the requirements for a Band 6.5 or 7.0 response.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The letter maintains a clear and logical organisation from beginning to end. Paragraphs are used appropriately to separate different functions, such as agreeing with the article, presenting counter-arguments, and offering the tour. Cohesive devices are employed to link ideas, such as "Nevertheless" and "From the article". However, referencing is occasionally imprecise, as seen in phrases like "on my this proposal" or "if I say about my town centre," which make the flow slightly mechanical in places. Paragraphing structure follows standard letter formats effectively, earning a solid Band 6.5.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for a general task, using terms like "international tourist," "delicious food courts," and "focal-points." However, there are several word choice and spelling inaccuracies, such as "in the response of an" (instead of "in response to an"), "street vanders" (instead of "vendors"), "diffrent" (instead of "different"), and "distanct" (instead of "distinct"). These errors slightly restrict the flexibility of your lexical resource and demonstrate some limitations in less common vocabulary, placing this squarely at a Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some attempt at variety with structures like conditional or relative clauses ("whenever he is coming back to write again"). However, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with prepositions and articles, such as "traveled the most of the well-known cities," "look same" instead of "look the same," and "in national newspaper." Additionally, tense usage fluctuates slightly, such as "if I say about my town centre." While these errors do not impede overall communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent the score from reaching a higher band.

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

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