Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-18

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 5.5)

Dear Sir,

I am fond of reading different kinds of books and one day my friend suggested me the book. The name of the book was My Life My Rules. When I started reading that book, I thought that book was so much boring but after reading 2-3 pages, it becomes so much interested that I kept reading.

The story was about a person who always make his own rules and follows that rules and one day he becomes successful in his life that whenever he used to think about his past he always laughs that how was his life and now what it has become. He has seen many changes in his life and with that inspiration I had also changed my life by makin different rules and always follow that path.

By my thinking, I can say that all the people should read this book so that they can change their life and get success in their life because that book had already changed my life.

Yours Faithfully,

Karan

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

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. The description of the book is vague, and the explanation of how it influenced the writer is repetitive and lacks specific detail. To reach a higher band, you should provide more concrete examples of how the book's content specifically changed your perspective or actions, rather than using general phrases like 'changed my life'. The tone is appropriate for a magazine contribution, but the depth of content is currently at a basic level.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter is organized into three paragraphs, which is a logical structure. However, the use of cohesive devices is quite mechanical and repetitive. For example, the phrase 'one day' is used twice in close proximity, and the transition between ideas feels somewhat abrupt. The referencing is occasionally unclear, such as in the sentence 'that whenever he used to think about his past he always laughs that how was his life'. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring that pronouns clearly refer to their antecedents would significantly improve the flow of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks range and precision. You rely on basic descriptors like 'so much boring' and 'so much interested', which are grammatically incorrect and stylistically weak. There is also some repetition of words like 'life', 'rules', and 'book'. To improve, you should aim to use more varied adjectives and adverbs to express your opinions and experiences. For instance, instead of 'so much interested', you could use 'engrossing' or 'captivating'. Expanding your vocabulary to include more sophisticated collocations will help you convey your ideas more effectively.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

There is a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures, but the accuracy is inconsistent. There are frequent errors in verb tense and subject-verb agreement, such as 'always make his own rules' (should be 'makes') and 'I had also changed my life' (should be 'I also changed'). Additionally, there are issues with word order and sentence construction, such as 'that how was his life'. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they are frequent enough to lower the score. Focusing on consistent tense usage and correct sentence structure will be key to improvement.

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

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