Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-15

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 or Madam,

I am writing this letter to inform you about you book which infact influenced me most.

The book name is success story. When I read this book I influenced a lot because it is all about the success in life. In this book the writer give too many examples of best successful person in the world.

If I talk about the main things that I infact influenced a lot it was the connection of the life withe the successful people life. It gives me a lot of motivation to become a successful person not only in personal life but also in professional as well.

I am sure the book will also attract too many people who want to success in their life. Due to that a magazine want to include contributions from its readers for an article called "The book that infact influenced me most"

your best reader

Kethu

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The letter addresses all three bullet points: describing the book, explaining its influence, and discussing its potential impact on others. However, the development of these ideas is quite limited. For instance, the description of the book 'Success Story' is vague, and the explanation of how it influenced you lacks specific detail or personal reflection. The final paragraph is somewhat repetitive, as it restates the prompt's instructions rather than providing a natural conclusion. To improve, aim to provide more concrete examples of how the book changed your perspective or actions.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The letter is organised into short paragraphs, which is appropriate for the task. However, the progression of ideas is somewhat mechanical. There is a lack of varied cohesive devices; the writing relies heavily on simple sentence structures and basic transitions. Referencing is sometimes unclear, such as in the phrase 'the connection of the life withe the successful people life'. Improving the use of linking words (e.g., 'consequently', 'furthermore', 'as a result') would help the ideas flow more naturally between sentences and paragraphs.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is limited and repetitive. Words like 'success' and 'influenced' are used frequently without variation. There are also errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'best successful person' instead of 'most successful people' and 'want to success' instead of 'want to succeed'. The range of vocabulary is sufficient to convey the basic message, but it lacks the precision and flexibility required for higher bands. Expanding your range of synonyms and learning common collocations will significantly improve your score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response consists primarily of simple sentences. There are frequent grammatical errors, including issues with articles ('the book name is success story'), verb forms ('the writer give'), and prepositions ('withe'). While these errors do not completely impede communication, they are frequent enough to be noticeable. To reach a higher band, you should focus on using a wider variety of complex sentence structures (e.g., using relative clauses or conditional sentences) and proofreading for basic subject-verb agreement and spelling errors.

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

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