Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing to share about the book that has a great infulence on me. I appreciate the opportnitie given by the magazine to its readers to share their opinions.

The book that I really admire is Over The Hill. This book is writen by Suman Joshi. She is a famous writer from my place. When I was in school, I was extremely depressed because of lost of a family member. The story of the book revolves around the life of a girl who faces hardships of life after she lost both her parents at a young age.

Despite this , she overcome the challenges and becomes successfull in her life. She become a motivation for others. Therefore , this story has a great positive impact on my childhood. This book was gifted by my class teacher to help me to deal with my emotions and feelings.

I am sure this will be very beneficial for all readers. Because the storyline is very special and motivate others. I highly recommend you to publish about this book. I hope you like my suggestions.

Yours faithfully,

Harnoor

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses all three bullet points of the task. You clearly describe the book, explain its influence on your personal life, and state why it would be beneficial to others. The tone is appropriate for a letter to an editor. However, the development of ideas is somewhat basic. For instance, while you mention the book helped you deal with emotions, you could have provided more specific detail on how the character's journey directly changed your perspective. To reach a higher band, aim to expand on your personal reflections with more depth and nuance.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The letter is logically organized into clear paragraphs, each serving a distinct purpose. You use basic cohesive devices such as 'Therefore', 'Despite this', and 'Because'. While these are functional, the flow between sentences is sometimes a bit mechanical. For example, the transition between the book's plot and its impact on you could be smoother. Additionally, ensure that your referencing is precise; in the final paragraph, 'this' is used to refer to the book, but the connection could be made more explicit to improve the overall flow of the argument.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using words like 'hardships', 'motivation', and 'beneficial'. However, there are several spelling errors, such as 'infulence' (influence), 'opportnitie' (opportunity), 'writen' (written), and 'successfull' (successful). These errors are noticeable and detract from the professional tone of the letter. To improve, focus on proofreading your work for common spelling mistakes. Expanding your vocabulary to include more sophisticated collocations or idiomatic expressions related to literature and personal growth would also help elevate your score.

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 frequent grammatical errors, such as 'lost of a family member' (the loss of), 'She become a motivation' (She became), and 'recommend you to publish about this book' (recommend that you publish a review of this book). While these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. Focus on subject-verb agreement and the correct use of articles to ensure your writing is more accurate.

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

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