Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-11-08

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

A magazine wants to include contributions from its readers for an article called 'The book that influenced me most'.

Write a letter to the editor of the magazine about the book that influenced you most. In your letter

- describe what this book was about
- explain how this book influenced you
- say whether this book would be likely to influence other people

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 express my enthusiasm regarding providing my experience with a book I read and request you to allow my contribution in your article named 'The book that influenced me most'.

The name of the book which truly inspired me is 'Sant Premanand Ji- The Real Saint'. In this book the autobiography of an Indian saint is explained. All the expreinces along with struggles he faced during his journey.

This book has solved most of the questions regarding my life. It also provided me directions to reach my destination. His experience about how he managed to overcome his fears and his success despite numerous obstacles enabled me to link my own life.

I truly believe that the way everything is explained in this book will definitely help people with all ages. Most of us have similar querries regarding existence and true motive of our life, which will probably get cleared after thorough reading of his autobiography.

Overall, if you allow my contributions in your article, it will not only increase your readers but also change their lives. I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully,

Sargun

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You address all three points: you identify the book as an autobiography of an Indian saint, explain that it helped answer questions and offered direction, and say it could help people of all ages. The personal impact is relevant, especially the link between the saint’s struggles and your own life. This meets the task well, but some details are less fully developed: the book’s subject is described briefly, and the specific changes it brought about in your decisions or behaviour remain unclear. The claim that readers’ questions will be cleared is also broad. To strengthen the response, give one concrete example of a lesson from the book and explain how it changed your actions, while keeping the prediction about other readers measured.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The letter has a clear progression: you introduce your purpose, describe the book, explain its personal effect, discuss its possible effect on readers, and close politely. Paragraphing supports this sequence, and links such as “This book” and “Overall” help the reader follow the ideas. The organisation is generally effective, though a few connections could be more precise. For example, “His experience … enabled me to link my own life” does not clearly explain the relationship between the saint’s experiences and yours. The opening sentence is also long and combines your purpose with a request. Use a more direct opening and make the link between each paragraph’s main idea explicit to improve the flow further.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range for the topic, including “autobiography,” “overcome his fears,” “numerous obstacles,” and “true motive.” These choices communicate the book’s themes and its influence. There are, however, some spelling and word-choice errors, such as “expreinces” and “querries,” and several phrases are not natural in this context: “allow my contribution,” “provided me directions,” and “increase your readers.” These do not prevent understanding, but they reduce precision and control of collocation. Choose more idiomatic expressions such as “include my contribution,” “gave me guidance,” and “attract more readers.” Proofreading spelling and checking common word partnerships would make your vocabulary more effective.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and more complex sentence forms, including the relative clause “The name of the book which truly inspired me…” and the sentence beginning “Most of us have similar queries…”. Meaning is generally clear, but some grammatical errors remain. “In this book the autobiography … is explained” is an awkward passive construction, while “All the experiences along with struggles he faced during his journey” is a sentence fragment without a main verb. In “His experience … enabled me to link my own life,” the grammatical relationship between the ideas is unclear. Aim to write complete sentences and use more direct structures, for example, “The book recounts the life of an Indian saint and the struggles he faced.” This will improve accuracy while preserving variety.

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