Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-01

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/Madam,

I am writing this letter to recommend a book that has had a significant influence on my life and would like to shared my experienced for your magazine article "The book that influence me most".

The book I would like to mention is the Think and grow rich by Napoleon. This book is mainly focused on positive thinking, clear plan and purpose of the goal. The author explain that having a strong desire, believe in yourself and taking consistent action are important for achieving success.

This book has influenced me in many ways. It taught me set a goal and remain focused on then, even I face difficulties. It also encouraged me to think positively and avoid giving up easily . After reading the book, I become more confident about my future goals and started making greater efforts to achieve them.

I believe that this book could influence many other people, especially those who want to improve their lives or achieve their personal and professional goals. Moreover, its practical advice and motivation can encourage reader to develop a positive attitude and work harder towards their ambitions.

Thank you consider my contribution and time.

I hope you find it suitable for your article.

Your faithfully,

Hemali Chauhan

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

You have successfully addressed all three bullet points of the task. You described the book, explained its influence, and provided a clear opinion on its potential impact on others. The tone is appropriate for a magazine contribution. To reach a higher band, ensure that your ideas are slightly more developed; for instance, when explaining how the book influenced you, you could provide a specific example of a challenge you faced and how the book's principles helped you overcome it. Overall, the response is clear and fulfills the requirements of the prompt effectively.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

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 'Moreover' and 'After reading the book' 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. Some sentences feel slightly disjointed, but the overall progression of the letter is logical and easy to follow throughout.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate a sufficient range of vocabulary to communicate your ideas clearly. Phrases like 'consistent action' and 'personal and professional goals' are used appropriately. However, there are some minor errors in word choice and form, such as 'would like to shared my experienced' (should be 'share my experience') and 'believe in yourself' (should be 'belief in yourself'). While these errors do not impede communication, they indicate a need for more attention to grammatical forms and collocations to reach a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, which is appropriate for this task. However, there are several recurring grammatical errors that affect the accuracy of your writing. For example, 'The author explain' (subject-verb agreement), 'It taught me set a goal' (missing 'to'), and 'Thank you consider' (should be 'Thank you for considering'). While these errors are noticeable, they do not prevent the reader from understanding your message. To improve, focus on proofreading for subject-verb agreement and the correct use of infinitives after certain verbs.

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

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