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 a fantastic book that has had a greater influence on my life. After reading your request for contribution for an article a book called " The Power of the 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 the conscious mind to reacts to different situations through different emotions. Its deep analysis teaches us how to control overthinking and prevent negative thoughts. As, the author has clearly demonstrated our mind sometime creates circumstances that are not in the actual.

This book has significantly changed my entire personality. Unlike before, now I always focus on the 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 a 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 response addresses all three bullet points of the prompt. You clearly identify the book, explain its influence on your personality, and provide a recommendation for others. The ideas are relevant and the tone is appropriate for a magazine contribution. To reach a higher band, ensure that the explanation of the book's content is slightly more detailed and cohesive. For instance, the description of how the subconscious mind works is a bit vague. Expanding on specific examples of how the book changed your perspective would further develop your ideas and provide a more compelling narrative for the reader.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter follows a logical structure with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a closing. Paragraphing is used to separate the different requirements of the task. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical. Phrases like 'Regarding book' and 'As a result' are functional but could be integrated more naturally. Additionally, some transitions between sentences are abrupt, such as the jump from the book's content to its impact on your personality. Using a wider variety of linking words and ensuring smoother transitions between ideas would improve the flow of the text.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'subconscious mind', 'overthinking', and 'circumstances'. However, there are some minor inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'greater influence' (which implies a comparison that isn't fully established) and 'prevent from unreal thoughts' (which is grammatically awkward). The phrasing 'immediately came in my mind' should be 'came to my mind'. To improve, focus on using more precise collocations and idiomatic expressions that fit the context of a magazine article.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are several grammatical errors, such as missing articles ('Regarding book' should be 'Regarding the book') and issues with verb forms ('how a subconscious mind gives signals... to reacts' should be 'to react'). There are also some punctuation and capitalization errors, such as the lowercase 'it' at the start of a sentence in the final paragraph. Increasing the variety of complex structures and proofreading for basic subject-verb agreement and article usage will help elevate your score.

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

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