Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)

Dear Editor,

I am writing to contribute to your article, "The book that influenced me most". The book that has influenced me the most is The harmonium handbook, which is useful guide for people who want to learn harmonium and Indian classical music.

The book explains the basic techniques of playing the harmonium, including how to identify notes, practice scales and improve finger improvement. It also introduces some basic concepts of Indian classical music.

This book had a significant influence on me because it encouraged me to take music more seriously. before reading it, I played harmonium mainly for enjoyment, but the book taught me the importance of regular practice and proper technique. As a result, I become more confident.

I believe this book could influence other people, especially beginners who are interested in learning harmonium or Indian classical music. This book explain each every method in very simple way, which is easy for readers.

I hope this information will be helpful.

Yours faithfully,

Vishal Goyal

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

You have successfully addressed all three bullet points in the prompt. You described the book, explained its influence on your musical practice, and provided a clear opinion on its potential to influence others. The tone is appropriate for a magazine contribution. To reach a higher band, you could expand slightly more on the specific 'concepts' mentioned in the second paragraph or provide a more vivid example of how the book changed your practice, rather than just stating it taught you 'regular practice'. Overall, the response is well-focused and meets the requirements of the task effectively.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The letter is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a standard closing. Each paragraph focuses on a specific aspect of the prompt, which helps the reader follow your ideas easily. You use basic cohesive devices such as 'The book that...', 'It also...', 'As a result...', and 'I believe...'. While the flow is clear, the use of linking words is somewhat repetitive. To improve, try incorporating a wider variety of transition signals or referencing phrases to connect your sentences more fluidly, which would elevate the overall structure of the letter.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'Indian classical music', 'techniques', and 'significant influence'. However, there are some minor inaccuracies and awkward phrasing, such as 'improve finger improvement' (which is redundant) and 'explain each every method' (which should be 'explains every method'). The vocabulary is functional and allows you to convey your message clearly, but it lacks the precision and variety of less common lexical items that would be required for a higher band score. Focusing on collocations and avoiding repetitive phrasing will help improve this score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, which is appropriate for this task. There are some grammatical slips, such as 'which is useful guide' (missing an article: 'a useful guide'), 'before reading it' (capitalization error), and 'This book explain' (subject-verb agreement error). Despite these errors, your meaning is always clear, and the mistakes do not impede communication. To achieve a higher score, ensure you proofread for basic subject-verb agreement and article usage, and try to incorporate a few more complex sentence structures, such as conditional or relative clauses, with greater accuracy.

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

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