Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-31

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 this letter for sharing my book recommendation for your article 'The book that influenced me most. This book is of a famous writer J.K Rowling and is her finest writing, The Harry Potter book series.

Although all Harry Potter books were exceptional and quite variant from each other when it comes to story and plot, those all share a common characters and emotions throughout. My absolute favorite one is 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'. The story revolves about a secret chamber with some deadly creature in it. Harry Potter and his friends were on the mission to find the creature and saving the school with Harry being the key to open the chamber. This is one of the most thrilling and exciting part of the entire book series because of the plot of secrets, clue solving and the friendship represented in the writing.

While, this book does not have an inspiring story as it is a fictional book, it inspires me a lot to start my own journey as a writer. Since childhood, I want to write books of my own. It started as a short storyteller at first and then moved to small paragraphs, however, i was never confident to go beyond that. After reading this book, I am so surprised that how a human mind can create this level of brilliance which motivates me to push my limits and overcome my fear.

From general viewpoint, audience always look for something which has some poems and paragraphs which give them life lessons in an influential article; however, from my standpoint, you should give a try to something which instead of providing life lessons to people, gives them encouragement to start their journeys and also teaches them the importance of fictional writing. I certainly believe, this book is perfect for that purpose.

I hope you will find my recommendation helpful!

Yours sincerely,

Komalpreet

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The letter addresses all three bullet points of the prompt. You clearly describe the book, explain its influence on your personal writing aspirations, and provide a rationale for why it might influence others. The tone is appropriate for a magazine contribution. However, the development of ideas is slightly uneven; while the personal influence is well-articulated, the explanation of why it would influence others is a bit vague and could have been more specific regarding the universal appeal of the themes. Overall, the response is well-focused and meets the requirements of the task effectively.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The letter is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a closing. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the different requirements of the task. You use a range of cohesive devices such as 'Although', 'While', and 'However' to connect ideas. However, some transitions are slightly mechanical, and there are minor issues with referencing, such as the phrase 'those all share a common characters' which lacks clarity. Despite these minor issues, the progression of ideas is easy to follow throughout the letter.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using words like 'thrilling', 'brilliance', and 'standpoint'. There are some instances of awkward phrasing or word choice, such as 'quite variant from each other' (should be 'quite different') and 'revolves about' (should be 'revolves around'). Additionally, there are minor grammatical errors in word form, such as 'common characters' (should be 'common characters' or 'a common character'). While these errors do not impede communication, they prevent the vocabulary from reaching a higher band score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors throughout the text, such as 'I am writing this letter for sharing' (should be 'to share'), 'Since childhood, I want to write' (should be 'I have wanted to write'), and 'I am so surprised that how a human mind' (should be 'I am surprised at how'). Punctuation is generally functional, though there are some comma splices and run-on sentences. While these errors are noticeable, they rarely impede the reader's understanding of your message.

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

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