Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-04

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 5.5)

Dear Writer,

I am writing to express my positive concern about the book" The scecret" which is totally about human subconsious mind. This book helps society to transfer their negative thoughts to positive mindset. It contains the 100% information of human mindset related to health and wealth.

After completing this magzine, I knew that what we visualise in mind it comes in real life. Furthermore,this book changed my mind from bad vibes to effective vibes which helps me to takes every situation with happy face rather that get upset.

In my perspective, I highly reccomand this book to current generation as the negetivity is the big issue in this hectic era. Moreover, after 24 years age, everybody needs to read this book to change thier mindset about their future life as I early mention how do think about yourself its come in true.

yours faithfully,

Vishal Bajaj

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The letter addresses all three bullet points: describing the book, explaining its influence, and discussing its potential impact on others. However, the response is under the 150-word minimum, which limits the depth of development. The ideas are relevant but somewhat superficial; for instance, the explanation of how the book influenced you is repetitive, focusing on 'mindset' without providing specific examples of how your life changed. To reach a higher band, you should expand on your points with more concrete details and ensure you meet the minimum length requirement to allow for full development of your ideas.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter is organised into clear paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. There is some use of cohesive devices such as 'Furthermore', 'In my perspective', and 'Moreover'. However, the flow is occasionally hindered by awkward phrasing and mechanical transitions. The referencing is sometimes unclear, such as in the final paragraph where the connection between the age mentioned and the book's advice is slightly disjointed. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring that each sentence logically follows the previous one would enhance the overall coherence.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks precision and variety. There are several spelling errors, such as 'scecret', 'magzine', 'reccomand', 'negetivity', and 'thier', which detract from the professional tone of a letter to an editor. The word choice is often repetitive, particularly the use of 'mindset' and 'book'. To improve, you should focus on using more sophisticated synonyms and ensuring accurate spelling. The use of informal phrases like 'bad vibes' is also slightly inappropriate for a formal letter to a magazine editor.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede clarity. Examples include 'it comes in real life' (missing preposition), 'takes every situation with happy face' (missing article), and 'as I early mention' (incorrect adverb usage). Subject-verb agreement and article usage are inconsistent throughout the text. While the meaning is generally understandable, the frequency of these errors prevents the writing from reaching a higher band. Focusing on proofreading for basic grammatical accuracy would be a significant step forward.

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