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 or Madam

I recently read a book written by you, named' the book that influenced me most'. This booked describe the life journey of the poor man and how he became a wealthy man by this hard work.

My financial condition is not that great and i always feel demotivated because of my situation, but after reading the good i got highly motivated and i started to work for a better life and now i believe that i am going to be successful in my life.

I believe that, this book is going to influence other people to because it is easy to understand and it is based on the real life story of a person, mentioned by you. That's why i believe that it will definitely going to influence others too.

I am very grateful to you for writing this book and i give my consent to publish my feedback in you magazine.

Your Faithful

Shubham

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. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat superficial. For example, you mention the book is about a 'poor man' who becomes wealthy, but you do not provide specific details about the book's title or author, which makes the response feel generic. To achieve a higher band, ensure your ideas are more fully extended with specific examples or deeper reflection. The tone is appropriate for a letter to an editor, and the purpose is clear throughout.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter is organised into logical paragraphs, which helps the reader follow your argument. However, the use of cohesive devices is quite limited and repetitive. You rely heavily on simple connectors like 'and' or 'because'. There is a lack of variety in linking words, and some transitions between sentences feel mechanical. For instance, the transition between your financial situation and the book's influence could be smoother. Improving the range of cohesive devices (e.g., 'consequently', 'furthermore', 'in addition to this') would significantly improve the flow and logical progression of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

Your vocabulary is adequate for the task, but it is quite basic and repetitive. You use words like 'good', 'life', and 'influence' multiple times. There are also some minor errors in word choice, such as 'booked' instead of 'book' and 'in you magazine' instead of 'in your magazine'. To reach a higher band, you should aim to use a wider range of vocabulary, including less common lexical items and more precise collocations. For example, instead of saying 'financial condition is not that great', you could use 'financial circumstances are challenging'.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text. Issues include subject-verb agreement ('This booked describe'), article usage ('the poor man'), and tense consistency ('it will definitely going to'). Additionally, there are punctuation errors, such as the missing comma after 'Dear Sir or Madam' and the incorrect closing 'Your Faithful' instead of 'Yours faithfully'. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they occur frequently enough to lower the score. Focusing on proofreading for basic subject-verb agreement and article usage would be highly beneficial.

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

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