Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

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

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,

I hope you are doing well. I am writing to express my enthusiastic interest in the book which influenced me deeply.

The name of the book is Pinjar which is written by Amrita Pritam. It is Punjabi book which is based on true story of women. The book describe how during partition in 1947 in India how one Hindu women named Puro was abducted by Muslim man Rashid.

The novel explores love, suffering, identity, women's struggle and tragedy of Partition. It influenced many readers how innocent people suffered because of religious violence and division.

I believe this novel should need more publicity and reached to other people. The writer want to show her emotions and cultural diversity by this book. Please let me know if you need more details about this book. I would be grateful if you could write about Pinjar Novel in your magazine.

Let me know your thoughts when you get a chance.

Yours sincerely,

Lovepreet Kaur

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

You have addressed all three bullet points of the task: describing the book, explaining its influence, and discussing its potential impact on others. The content is relevant and clearly focused on the prompt. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. For example, when explaining how the book influenced you, you mention that it 'influenced many readers,' but you do not explicitly detail your own personal emotional or intellectual transformation, which is the core of the prompt. To reach a higher band, ensure that your personal connection to the book is more deeply explored and clearly articulated.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter follows a logical structure with a clear opening and closing. Paragraphing is used to separate the introduction, the description of the book, and the concluding request. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical and limited. Transitions between sentences are occasionally abrupt, such as the jump from the plot summary to the thematic analysis. Using a wider variety of linking words (e.g., 'consequently,' 'furthermore,' 'in addition to this') would improve the flow and help connect your ideas more fluidly throughout the letter.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'abducted,' 'religious violence,' and 'cultural diversity' appropriately. There are some minor inaccuracies, such as 'should need more publicity' (should receive/deserves) and 'reached to other people' (reach other people). While your vocabulary is sufficient to convey your message clearly, it lacks the precision and sophistication required for higher bands. Attempting to use more nuanced collocations or idiomatic expressions would enhance your writing and demonstrate a more flexible control of the language.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, which is appropriate for this task. However, there are several grammatical errors that occur throughout the text, such as 'It is Punjabi book' (missing article 'a'), 'The book describe' (subject-verb agreement error), and 'The writer want' (subject-verb agreement error). While these errors do not impede communication, they are frequent enough to prevent a higher score. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and the correct use of articles will significantly improve the accuracy of your writing.

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

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