Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

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

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,

I hope you are doing well. I just received your letter asking my opinion about the book named Hardwork always pays off, this is one of the most motivational books I have ever read. The story of the book is basically based on a hardworking guy, John who starts his life with poverty and becomes a richest businessman in the county afterwards. Furthermore, he was filled with integrity and honesty due to which not only his fellow human beings supported him but also God had fulfilled his all the desired. John used to work 15-16 hours everyday to support his family which requires a lot of courage. After working hard he started a business and invested his time and efforts in the business to make it success

within some years. Being a middle class girl, I felt like this story is based on my current as well as future life.

It really motivated me to work hard and to be successful in my life. Additionally, I believe that other middle class people will feel same after reading this book which will lead them enjoy valuable and blessed life.

Regards

Komal.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

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 letter to an editor. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. For example, the explanation of how the book influenced you is quite brief, and the description of the book's plot is a bit repetitive. To reach a higher band, you should expand on your personal reflections and provide more specific details about the book's themes or narrative style to demonstrate a deeper engagement with the topic.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter is logically organized, with a clear introduction, body, and conclusion. You use some cohesive devices such as 'Furthermore', 'Additionally', and 'not only... but also'. However, the paragraphing is insufficient; the entire body of the letter is contained in one large block, which makes it harder to follow. Breaking the text into distinct paragraphs for each bullet point would significantly improve the flow and readability. Additionally, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and the connection between sentences could be smoother to create a more natural progression of ideas.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using words like 'motivational', 'integrity', and 'blessed'. However, there are several instances of awkward phrasing and word choice errors, such as 'becomes a richest businessman' (should be 'the richest') and 'God had fulfilled his all the desired' (should be 'all his desires'). These errors occasionally hinder the precision of your message. To improve, focus on using more natural collocations and ensure that your word forms are accurate. Expanding your vocabulary to include more sophisticated descriptive adjectives would also be beneficial.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, which is appropriate for this level. However, there are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text, including issues with articles ('a richest businessman'), pluralization ('all the desired'), and verb tense consistency ('John used to work... he started a business'). While these errors do not prevent the reader from understanding your meaning, they are frequent enough to impact the overall fluency of the writing. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and the correct use of articles will help you achieve a higher score.

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

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