Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-06

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,

I am writing this letter to share you useful knowledge about the book that read recently book is named the wings of fire which is written by our Late President Dr. A P J Abdual kalam.

The book has wonderful knowledge about how to make our dreams comes true. The president shared his life experience through this . He told us that if we insist to do any goal that might be happened in our life. this book influenced me to stay focused on our goal and get rid off unnecessary work. Additionally , this book would be great encouragement to students or our youngster.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response fails to meet the minimum word count requirement of 150 words, reaching only 107 words. Consequently, the development of ideas is significantly restricted. While you have addressed all three bullet points—describing the book, explaining its influence, and discussing its potential impact on others—the content is underdeveloped. For instance, the explanation of how the book influenced you is quite brief and lacks specific detail or personal reflection. To improve, you need to expand on your ideas, providing more depth and examples to meet the length requirement and fully satisfy the task instructions.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The letter is very short, which limits the use of cohesive devices. You have used some basic linking words like 'Additionally', but the overall flow is somewhat disjointed due to the lack of paragraphing and the brevity of the sentences. The structure is clear enough to follow, but it lacks the sophisticated progression of ideas expected at higher bands. To improve, ensure you use a wider range of cohesive devices to connect your sentences and ideas more naturally, and organize your response into clear paragraphs to improve readability.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

Your vocabulary is generally adequate for basic communication but lacks the range and precision required for a higher score. You use some repetitive phrasing, such as 'wonderful knowledge' and 'great encouragement'. There are also some minor errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'share you useful knowledge' (should be 'share some useful knowledge') and 'get rid off' (should be 'get rid of'). To improve, try to incorporate more varied and precise vocabulary related to the topic of literature and personal development, and pay closer attention to common collocations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains a mix of simple and some attempted complex structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede the flow. Examples include 'the book that read recently book is named' (missing subject/article), 'dreams comes true' (subject-verb agreement), and 'if we insist to do any goal that might be happened' (incorrect verb form and tense). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with capitalization and spacing. To improve, focus on mastering basic sentence construction, subject-verb agreement, and tense consistency before attempting more complex structures.

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

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