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 to share 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 distinct from each other, those all share common characters and emotions. Therefore, my absolute favorite book from the series is 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'. The story revolves around 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. I started as a short storyteller at first and then moved to write small paragraphs; however, I was never confident to go beyond that. After reading this book, I was so surprised that how a human mind can create this level of brilliance. This motivates me to push my limits and overcome my fear.

From general viewpoint, audience always look for some inspirational speeches or 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

You have addressed all three bullet points of the task effectively. You described the book, explained its personal influence on your writing aspirations, and provided a clear opinion on its potential to influence others. The tone is appropriate for a magazine contribution, and your position is consistent throughout. To reach a higher band, ensure that your description of the book's plot is more concise, allowing more space to deepen the explanation of how it influenced you, as this is the core of the prompt. Your ideas are well-developed and relevant to the magazine's theme.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The letter is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. You use paragraphing effectively to separate your ideas. Cohesive devices such as 'Although', 'Therefore', and 'however' are used to link sentences and ideas. While the flow is generally smooth, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, such as 'From general viewpoint'. Improving the variety of linking phrases and ensuring that referencing (e.g., 'this book') is always precise will help you achieve a higher score. Overall, the progression of ideas is clear and easy to follow.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task. You use some good collocations like 'thrilling and exciting' and 'push my limits'. However, there are some minor inaccuracies and awkward phrasing, such as 'Since childhood, I want to write' (should be 'have wanted') and 'From general viewpoint' (should be 'From a general viewpoint'). To improve, try to incorporate more sophisticated vocabulary related to literature and personal growth, and pay closer attention to article usage and prepositional phrases to ensure your writing sounds more natural and precise.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While many sentences are clear, there are several grammatical errors that persist, such as 'This book is of a famous writer' (should be 'by'), 'those all share' (should be 'they all share'), and 'I was so surprised that how' (should be 'at how'). Additionally, there are minor punctuation issues, such as the comma splice in the first paragraph. To reach a higher band, focus on subject-verb agreement and the correct use of relative clauses. Increasing the frequency of error-free complex sentences will significantly improve your score.

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

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