Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-12

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 Editor,

I am writing to contribute an article from the book that influenced me most for your magazine.

The book titled 'Internal Awareness' written by Dr. James David. This book focused on individuals thinking about their own self and brings positivity in their life by changing one's way of thinking.

I am particularly impressed by this book. It helps me fixing my negative attitude for myself. I used to be very negative personality and has a habit of overthinking that made my life harder, as I found difficult to challenge any little issue. However, after the exposure of this book, I understand the significance of internal positivity, which actually make a big difference in my life.

I believe, overthinking and negative attitude for oneself is a common issue among individuals. This book can help them to provide motivation to change internal personality, enabling people to make positive changes and lead a happier life.

I hope you find this article useful and consider this article for your magazine.

Yours faithfully,

Harmeet

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

You have addressed all three bullet points required by the task. You described the book, explained its personal influence, and provided a clear opinion on its potential to influence others. The tone is appropriate for a magazine contribution. However, the development of your ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, while you mention the book helped you fix a 'negative attitude,' providing a specific example of a situation where the book's advice was applied would have made your response more compelling and fully developed. Overall, the response is relevant and meets the requirements of the task effectively.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The letter follows a logical progression, moving from the introduction of the book to its personal impact and finally to its broader relevance. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate these ideas. You use some cohesive devices such as 'However' and 'I believe,' which help the flow. To reach a higher band, try to use a wider variety of linking words and ensure that referencing is always precise. For example, the transition between the second and third paragraphs could be smoother to better connect your personal experience to the general conclusion.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'significance,' 'internal positivity,' and 'motivation.' However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'fixing my negative attitude' (better: 'overcoming my negative attitude') and 'exposure of this book' (better: 'exposure to this book'). These errors do not impede communication, but they do limit the precision of your writing. Expanding your range to include more sophisticated collocations would improve your score in this criterion.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are several grammatical errors that occur throughout the text. Examples include 'I am writing to contribute an article from the book' (should be 'about the book'), 'has a habit' (should be 'had a habit' to match the past tense), and 'make a big difference' (should be 'made a big difference'). These errors are noticeable but do not prevent the reader from understanding your message. To improve, focus on maintaining consistent verb tenses and checking subject-verb agreement.

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