Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-14

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 5.0)

Dear Sir,

Here I am writing this letter to editor.Last Sunday I read one amazing book it was really interesting and influence book was for me.The name book was life skills book when I read this I learn so many things from these stories it was really interesting stories for our life.

Moreover in this book wonderful stories in this book.I really to suggest to another ones who are interested to read books it would be change their life when we read this book.It influence to other one also and impact on their life I learn many skills in this book how we can survive in a life without anyone to help.I prefer to others to read this book it will Bea change their future and also good impact on their life also help to their carrier with the help of this book I really change my self.

Thank You

Yours sincerely

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response addresses all three bullet points of the prompt, though the development is quite limited. You describe the book as a 'life skills book' and explain its influence on your personal survival and future. However, the ideas are repetitive and lack specific details or examples of the content. To improve, you should provide a more concrete description of the book's themes or specific lessons learned, rather than repeating general phrases like 'it was really interesting' or 'it would change their life'. The tone is appropriate for a magazine contribution, but the lack of depth in explaining the book's impact prevents a higher score.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The letter lacks a clear paragraph structure, which makes the flow of ideas difficult to follow. While you attempt to use cohesive devices like 'Moreover', the connections between sentences are often weak or mechanical. There is a lack of logical progression; the ideas are presented in a somewhat disjointed manner, and the transition between describing the book and explaining its influence is abrupt. To improve, you should organize your response into distinct paragraphs for each bullet point and use a wider variety of linking words to connect your sentences and ideas more naturally.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is very basic and repetitive. You rely heavily on simple words like 'interesting', 'good', and 'book'. There are also issues with word choice and collocation, such as 'influence book' instead of 'influential book' and 'help to their carrier' (likely meaning 'career'). The range of vocabulary is insufficient to express your ideas with precision. To improve, try to incorporate more descriptive adjectives and topic-specific vocabulary related to literature or personal development. Avoid repeating the same words multiple times in close proximity, as this limits the sophistication of your writing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

There are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text that occasionally impede communication. Issues include missing articles ('to editor'), incorrect verb forms ('it would be change'), and run-on sentences. The sentence structures are mostly simple, and there is a lack of complex sentence forms. Punctuation is also inconsistent, with missing spaces after periods and commas. To improve, focus on basic sentence construction, ensuring that you have a clear subject and verb in every sentence. Practice using complex structures like relative clauses or conditional sentences to demonstrate a wider range of grammatical control.

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