Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-13

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 6.0)

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to contribute to your upcoming article called ‘The book that influenced me most’. The book which influence me deeply is ‘ The red sky in the morning’ written by European writer Christina Thomas.

First of all, this talks authors life story and how she was grown up in an alien place after she has been lift back by her family after she lost her parents in an accident. This story includes all the goners because this talks about the emotions, comedy and love life of the writer. Even though she was abandoned by her family but she never gave up to become aeronautical engineer.

I largely admire about the story and started to follow various qualities like self motivating, working hard and never feel down during the failures. In result, this render me to stand confident after achieving the success in my career.

I am very definite that this would influence majority since most of them pass through this path.

I hope book will definitely reach winder public.

Yours faithfully,

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

You have addressed all three bullet points of the task: describing the book, explaining its influence, and discussing its potential impact on others. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, the description of the book's plot is a bit vague, using terms like 'all the goners' which is unclear. To reach a higher band, you should provide more specific details about the book's content and elaborate further on the personal impact it had on your life. The tone is appropriate for a magazine contribution, and the purpose of the letter is clear throughout.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter follows a logical progression, moving from the introduction to the description, the personal impact, and finally the recommendation. You use basic paragraphing to separate these ideas. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical and occasionally inaccurate, such as 'In result' instead of 'As a result'. Additionally, some sentences are disjointed, and the flow between ideas could be smoother. Improving the use of linking words and ensuring that referencing (e.g., 'this', 'that') is precise would help to improve the overall cohesion of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

Your vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, but there are several instances of word-choice errors and non-standard phrasing. For example, 'lift back' is not the correct collocation for being raised by a family, and 'goners' is likely a misuse of the word 'genres'. You also use 'winder public' instead of 'wider public'. While you attempt to use some descriptive language, the inaccuracies occasionally hinder the clarity of your message. To improve, focus on learning common collocations and ensuring that the words you choose accurately reflect your intended meaning.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, which is good. However, there are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text, such as 'The book which influence me' (should be 'influenced'), 'this talks authors life story' (should be 'talks about the author's'), and 'how she was grown up' (should be 'how she grew up'). These errors are noticeable and sometimes distract the reader, though they do not completely prevent understanding. To improve, pay closer attention to subject-verb agreement, verb tenses, and the correct use of possessive forms.

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

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