Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-26

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 this letter finds you well.

I am Zara Shaikh and I have been reading your magazine since 2022. Yesterday, I saw an article in your magazine in which you want to include the contribution of your readers for an article. The topic of the article is "The book that influenced me most". I would like to contribute for the article.

The book that influenced me is a cooking book "Meals for Everyone". I used to hate cooking but after reading this book now I am enjoying cooking. This book comes in three levels. Level one for beginner, level one moderate recipes and level three for expert cooks. It has very easy recipes with easy tips and tricks. In addition, this book teaches you that cooking is an art. Once you start cooking following the easy recipes you will be an expert chef in no time.

I believe that this book can influenced every age group. This book will help those who just start cooking or want to adopt cooking as a profession.

Thank you in advance.

Yours sincerely,

Zara Shaikh.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all three bullet points of the task. You clearly describe the book, explain its influence on your attitude toward cooking, and provide a reasonable justification for why it would influence others. The tone is appropriate for a magazine contribution. However, the development of ideas is somewhat basic. For instance, the description of the book's levels could be more descriptive to better engage the reader. To reach a higher band, ensure that your explanations are more fully extended, providing more depth regarding the specific 'tips and tricks' or the nature of the 'influence' beyond just enjoying cooking.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter follows a logical structure with a clear introduction, body, and conclusion. Paragraphing is used, although the body paragraph is quite dense and could be split to better separate the description of the book from the discussion of its influence. You use some cohesive devices like 'In addition' and 'Once you start', which help the flow. However, the transition between the introduction and the main content is a bit abrupt. Improving the use of linking words and ensuring a smoother progression between sentences would enhance the overall coherence of the piece.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but remains somewhat repetitive and simple. Phrases like 'very easy recipes' and 'easy tips and tricks' lack variety. You demonstrate an ability to use topic-specific vocabulary such as 'expert chef' and 'adopt cooking as a profession', which is positive. To improve, try to incorporate more precise adjectives and varied verbs to describe your experience. For example, instead of saying you 'used to hate' cooking, you could use 'previously found cooking to be a daunting chore'. Expanding your range of synonyms will help you achieve a higher score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is always clear, there are several grammatical errors. For example, 'this book can influenced' should be 'this book can influence', and 'level one moderate recipes' is missing a verb or preposition. Additionally, 'those who just start cooking' should be 'those who have just started cooking' to maintain correct tense usage. While these errors do not impede communication, they indicate a need for more careful proofreading and a better grasp of verb forms and tense consistency.

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