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 contributions for an article a book called " The Power of the Subconscious Mind" immediately came to my mind.

Regarding the book, it is all about the functioning of our mind, how the 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 sometimes 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 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 successfully addresses all three bullet points of the task. You clearly identified the book, explained its influence on your personality, and provided a recommendation for others. The tone is appropriate for a magazine contribution. To reach a higher band, you could provide more specific examples of how the book influenced your daily life, rather than general statements like 'changed my entire personality.' This would allow for a more developed and persuasive argument, which is expected at higher levels of task achievement.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter is logically organized with clear paragraphing. Each paragraph focuses on a specific aspect of the prompt, which helps the reader follow your ideas easily. You use some cohesive devices, such as 'Regarding the book' and 'As a result,' to link your thoughts. However, the flow could be improved by using a wider variety of linking words and ensuring that transitions between sentences are smoother. Currently, some sentences feel slightly disconnected, which prevents the response from reaching the highest band for cohesion.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You have a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey your message clearly. Phrases like 'deep analysis' and 'unreal thoughts' are relevant to the topic. However, there are some minor inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'improve a motivation' (should be 'improve motivation' or 'increase motivation') and 'control overthinking' (which is acceptable but could be more precise). To improve, try to incorporate more sophisticated collocations and avoid repetitive phrasing to demonstrate a more flexible command of the language.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is always clear, there are several grammatical slips, such as 'a book called' (missing a comma or relative clause), 'control overthinking' (the verb 'control' does not need 'over' here), and 'improve a motivation' (article error). Additionally, there is a missing capital letter at the start of the sentence 'it would definitely help them'. Increasing your control over punctuation and article usage will help you achieve a higher band score.

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

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