Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-29

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 5.5)

Dear Sir or Madam,

I just want to inform you that, I read your book, which is biopic of person who grow up in poor family and ends up achiving their goals. I just want to give my feedback on it.

The book about a person who bron in poor family studies a lots to build their future and become a sciencetist. The journay of that man inspried many people who are strugging to achieve their goals.

This book influenced me, I learn about how to stay on track to achieve many goals, how hard life is but never quit in life just stay focused towards your goal. This book changes my life and propestive to look out world. I suggested this book my of many friends, who read books. They give me postive feedback on it. How book changs their point of view to achieve thier derams. I want to say best wishies to writer and thanks for wining our hearts.

Your faithfully,

Jaskaran

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses all three bullet points of the task: describing the book, explaining its influence, and discussing its potential impact on others. However, the development of these ideas is quite limited and repetitive. For instance, the description of the book is vague, and the explanation of its influence relies on simple, repetitive phrasing like 'achieve their goals'. While the letter format is generally followed, the tone is somewhat informal and lacks the polish expected for a magazine contribution. To improve, you should provide more specific details about the book's content and offer a more nuanced reflection on how it personally influenced your perspective.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter is organised into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the use of cohesive devices is very limited and sometimes mechanical. Transitions between sentences are often abrupt, and there is a lack of variety in linking words. For example, the start of the second paragraph is disjointed from the first. The referencing is occasionally unclear, such as in the phrase 'I suggested this book my of many friends', which hinders the flow of ideas. Improving the use of logical connectors would significantly enhance the overall coherence of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is basic and repetitive, which limits your ability to express complex ideas. There are several spelling errors, such as 'achiving', 'bron', 'sciencetist', 'journay', 'inspried', 'strugging', 'propestive', and 'thier'. These errors are frequent and occasionally distract the reader. While you attempt to use some relevant vocabulary related to the topic, the range is narrow. To reach a higher band, you need to demonstrate a wider range of vocabulary and pay closer attention to spelling and accurate word choice, such as using 'perspective' instead of 'propestive'.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains a mix of simple and some attempted complex sentence structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text, including issues with subject-verb agreement, article usage, and sentence construction (e.g., 'I read your book, which is biopic of person who grow up'). These errors are persistent and sometimes impede the clarity of your message. While the meaning is generally understandable, the high frequency of grammatical slips prevents the writing from achieving a higher score. Focusing on basic sentence structure and proofreading for common errors would be beneficial.

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