Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-07

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 sir or madam,

I am writing this letter because I want to add my review on your article about a book that influenced myself.

I am found of reading a books, but recently I have read a book the name of book is - "Rich dad and poor dad". This book influenced myself and also change my nature and I am becoming very positive about life.

Basically this book is on the father's compromises about their families and most important their kids. One event I want to share with you is that, Poor father are doing everthing for his families and he wearing old clothes on festival while his all family members wore new clothes and on other phase, Rich dad is out of town beacuse of the business and his family celebrate festival without him. So this event surprised me, because one father have everything but they don't have time for his family. However, second father has nothing but they are very happy because they celebrate festival with family.

I would like to add my contribution in your article, I got very influenced after reading this book so I want that other people get influence from this book.

Best regards,

Krishna

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

You have addressed all three bullet points in the prompt: describing the book, explaining its influence, and discussing its potential impact on others. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat limited. The summary of the book's content is slightly confusing, and the explanation of how it influenced you remains quite general. To improve, you should provide more specific examples of how your mindset or actions changed after reading the book. While the task is fully addressed, the depth of the response is closer to the Band 5/6 level as the ideas are not fully extended or supported with clear, logical detail.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter is organized into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the flow between sentences is often mechanical. You rely on basic transitions like 'Basically' and 'However,' and some sentences are disjointed, such as the transition between the book description and the personal reflection. The use of cohesive devices is limited, and some referencing is unclear (e.g., 'second father has nothing'). Improving the use of linking words and ensuring that each paragraph has a clear, singular focus would significantly enhance the logical progression of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

Your vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, but it is quite repetitive and lacks precision. You use basic terms like 'good' or 'very' and struggle with word forms, such as 'I am found of reading' (should be 'fond') and 'I got very influenced' (should be 'I was greatly influenced'). There are also errors in collocation, such as 'add my review on your article' instead of 'contribute to your article.' To reach a higher band, you should aim to use a wider range of vocabulary and ensure that words are used in their correct grammatical context.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

There are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text that occasionally impede clarity. Common issues include subject-verb agreement ('Poor father are doing'), article usage ('a books'), and tense consistency. Your sentence structures are mostly simple, with limited attempts at complex sentences. When you do attempt more complex structures, errors often occur, such as 'the name of book is - Rich dad and poor dad.' To improve, focus on mastering basic sentence construction, specifically subject-verb agreement and the correct use of articles, before attempting more complex grammatical structures.

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

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