Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-22

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 am writing in response to your request for a contribution to the article ''the book that influenced me the Most ". I would like to share my experience with the book ''The Alchemist '' by Paulo Coelho, a book that has had a significant impact on my life.

The book tells the story of a person, Santiago, a young shepherd who dreams of discovering treasure, and during his journey, he meets different people who teach him different values of life and lessons about following dreams, overcoming fear, and trusting himself.

This book influenced me by changing the way I look at challenges and opportunities; it encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone and believe in my abilities.

I strongly believe that this book could help other people as well. Its message is about courage and determination.

Regards

Piyu

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 response is under the 150-word minimum requirement, which limits the depth of the ideas presented. While the content is relevant, the explanation of how the book influenced the writer is somewhat brief and could have been expanded with more specific examples or personal anecdotes to fully develop the ideas. Because the response is under-length, it cannot reach the higher bands for task achievement.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter follows a logical structure, with a clear introduction, body paragraphs for each prompt requirement, and a closing. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the different points. Cohesive devices such as 'during his journey' and 'this book influenced me' are used to link ideas, although the transitions are somewhat basic. The overall flow is easy to follow, but the limited length prevents the use of more sophisticated cohesive devices that would be expected at higher band levels.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is adequate for the task, using terms like 'significant impact', 'comfort zone', and 'determination'. However, the range is somewhat limited and relies on fairly common language. There are minor issues with punctuation and capitalization, such as the inconsistent use of quotation marks around book titles and the unnecessary capitalization of 'Most'. To improve, you should aim to incorporate more precise adjectives and collocations to express your ideas with greater sophistication.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While most sentences are clear and grammatically sound, there are some minor errors, such as the phrasing 'different values of life and lessons'. The punctuation is generally functional, though the inconsistent use of quotation marks and spacing around them is noticeable. The grammar is sufficient to communicate the message without difficulty, but a wider variety of complex structures would be needed to achieve a higher band score.

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

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