Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-28

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 Sir or Madam,

I am writing to share such a fantastic book that have had a greater influence on my life. After reading your request on contribution for an article a book called " The Power of Subconscious Mind" immediately came in my mind.

Regarding book, it is all about the functioning of our mind, how a subconscious mind gives signals to conscious mind to reacts in different situations through different emotions. Its deep analysis teaches us how to control overthinking and prevent negative thought. As, the author has clearly demonstrated our mind sometime creates circumstances that are not in actual.

This book has significantly changed my entire personality. Unlike before, now I always focus on positive side rather than worrying about negative consequences.

I would highly recommend it to the people particularly adults who are always stressed about career, family or children. it would definitely help them to prevent from unreal thoughts in mind. As a result, it reduces the stress levels and improve motivation to do something in life.

I hope you like this book.

Yours sincerely,

Rahul

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The letter successfully addresses all three bullet points of the prompt. You clearly identify the book, explain its influence on your mindset, and provide a recommendation for others. The tone is appropriate for a magazine contribution. However, the development of ideas is somewhat brief. For instance, while you mention that the book changed your personality, providing a specific example of a situation where you applied the book's teachings would have strengthened the response. Overall, the task is fully addressed, but more detailed elaboration would elevate the quality of the content.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter is logically organized into clear paragraphs, each serving a distinct purpose. You use some cohesive devices, such as 'Regarding', 'Unlike before', and 'As a result', which help the flow of information. However, the transition between sentences is sometimes a bit mechanical, and the use of referencing could be more varied. For example, the opening paragraph is slightly disjointed due to the phrasing of the first two sentences. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring smoother transitions between ideas would help achieve a higher band score.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'subconscious', 'functioning', and 'circumstances'. There are, however, some minor inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'share such a fantastic book' (which sounds slightly unnatural) and 'prevent from unreal thoughts' (which should be 'prevent unreal thoughts'). While these errors do not impede communication, they indicate a need for more precise control over word combinations. Expanding your vocabulary to include more sophisticated collocations would be beneficial.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are several grammatical errors throughout the text. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('a book that have had', 'mind sometime creates'), missing articles ('Regarding book'), and punctuation errors. While these errors are noticeable, they do not prevent the reader from understanding your message. To improve, focus on proofreading for basic subject-verb agreement and article usage, and try to incorporate more complex sentence structures with greater accuracy.

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

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