Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)

Dear Sir /Madam,

I am writing this letter to express my thoughts on The book which influenced the most is ‘Two states’ by Chetan Bhagat. This was recommended by one of my friend a few years ago.

The story was based on young couples love story from India from different states, with different culture and traditions, who faced several difficulties to convenience their families. However, instead giving up, these couples did all the possibilities to bring their families to common understanding.

I would certainly admit that this book influenced me to the extended level because effort and being patience until to reach the destination is more essential part to success. Moreover, I also educated from the book that love is only not the factor to stay happy life, along with it common understanding and respecting each other is more prominent to lead happy life.

I certainly believe that this book would highly influence the young generation since this book includes simple language and clear explanation along with some admiring pictures of the story.

I hope my inputs will drag most of your reader and thank you for giving an opportunity to provide feedback.

Yours faithfully,

Anjali Reddy

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

You have addressed all three bullet points in the prompt: describing the book, explaining its influence, and discussing its potential impact on others. The tone is appropriate for a magazine contribution. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, while you mention that the book taught you about patience and understanding, these points could be expanded with more specific examples of how you applied these lessons in your own life. The opening sentence is slightly awkward as it combines the introduction with the book title, which slightly impacts the clarity of your initial position. Overall, you have fulfilled the requirements of the task effectively.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter is logically organized into clear paragraphs, each focusing on a specific aspect of the prompt. You use some cohesive devices, such as 'However', 'Moreover', and 'I certainly believe', to link your ideas. However, some transitions feel a bit mechanical, and there are minor issues with referencing, such as in the first paragraph where the sentence structure is slightly disjointed. The progression of ideas is generally clear, but the flow between sentences could be improved by using a wider variety of linking words and ensuring that pronouns clearly refer back to their intended antecedents to improve the overall cohesion of the text.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using words like 'traditions', 'prominent', and 'opportunity'. There are some instances of inaccurate word choice or collocation, such as 'to convenience their families' (should be 'convince') and 'to the extended level' (should be 'to a great extent'). Additionally, 'did all the possibilities' is not a natural English collocation. While these errors do not impede communication, they indicate a need for more precise word usage. To reach a higher band, focus on learning common collocations and ensuring that your vocabulary choices are contextually accurate.

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 throughout the text, such as 'one of my friend' (should be 'friends'), 'young couples love story' (should be 'young couple's love story'), and 'being patience' (should be 'being patient'). There are also issues with article usage and verb forms, such as 'I also educated from the book' (should be 'I also learned from the book'). While these errors are frequent, they do not prevent the reader from understanding your message. Increasing your control over basic grammar and sentence construction will help improve your score.

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

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