Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-05

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/madam,

i am writing to telling you about the booked that influenced me the most.

This book is about Wings of fire by Abdul kalam. This book is all about his life journey such as lifestyle, education and family. He born in poor family and because of that he cannot be able to do study in good school.

This book influenced me most because he did a lot of hard work. He worked in their childhood so he can pay their school fees, not only this, but he also trusted himself that he can achieve anything he wants to.

Apart from this, this book will also be influenced others to teach them about how we can tackle the problem, and we all should have to do hard work to full fill our dreams.

Your faithfully,

Jeenat Kalsi

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response addresses all three bullet points of the prompt: describing the book, explaining its influence, and discussing its potential impact on others. However, the development of these ideas is quite limited and brief. Furthermore, the response fails to meet the minimum word count requirement of 150 words, which significantly impacts the overall task achievement. To improve, you should expand on your personal reflections and provide more detailed examples to ensure the response is sufficiently developed and meets the length requirement.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter is organised into logical paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the use of cohesive devices is quite basic and sometimes repetitive. For instance, the transition 'Apart from this' is used to start the final paragraph, but the connection between ideas remains somewhat mechanical. The flow between sentences could be improved by using a wider variety of linking words and ensuring that referencing (e.g., 'this book') is used more precisely to maintain a smooth progression of ideas throughout the text.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task but remains quite simple and repetitive. Phrases like 'did a lot of hard work' and 'achieve anything he wants' are functional but lack the precision and variety expected at higher bands. There are also minor errors in word choice and form, such as 'booked' instead of 'book' and 'full fill' instead of 'fulfill'. To reach a higher band, you should aim to incorporate more sophisticated vocabulary and collocations related to literature and personal development.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains a mix of simple and some attempted complex sentences, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede clarity. Examples include 'i am writing to telling you' (incorrect verb form), 'He born in poor family' (missing auxiliary verb), and 'he cannot be able to' (redundant phrasing). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with the use of lowercase 'i' and missing articles. While the meaning is generally understandable, the high frequency of basic errors limits the score in this criterion.

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

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