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 the book, it is all about the functioning of our mind, how a subconscious mind gives signals to the conscious mind to react 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 real.

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

You have successfully addressed all three bullet points in the prompt. You clearly described the book, explained its personal impact, and provided a recommendation for others. The tone is appropriate for a magazine contribution. To reach a higher band, you could provide more specific, concrete examples of how the book influenced your daily actions or decision-making processes, rather than keeping the description somewhat general. For instance, mentioning a specific technique from the book would have added more depth to your response.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a closing. Each paragraph focuses on a specific aspect of the prompt. You use some cohesive devices, such as 'Regarding the book' and 'As a result', which help the flow. However, the transition between the second and third paragraphs could be smoother. Additionally, some sentences feel slightly disjointed. Using a wider variety of linking words and ensuring that referencing (e.g., 'it') is always clear would improve the overall cohesion of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'subconscious mind', 'functioning', and 'circumstances'. However, there are some minor inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'prevent from unreal thoughts' (should be 'prevent unreal thoughts') and 'improve a motivation' (should be 'improve motivation'). While these errors do not impede communication, they prevent the vocabulary from being considered 'flexible' or 'precise'. Incorporating more sophisticated collocations would help elevate your 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 several grammatical errors, such as 'a greater influence' (should be 'a great influence'), 'immediately came in my mind' (should be 'came to my mind'), and 'control overthinking' (should be 'control overthinking' or 'control of overthinking'). While these errors are noticeable, they do not prevent the reader from understanding your message. To improve, focus on subject-verb agreement and the correct use of prepositions.

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

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