Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to inform you about an article named "The book that influenced me most" from one of your magazines that I read recently and had a positive impact on me.

This article was about recycling. In this book, in-depth detail was provided about the importance of recycling. In addition, this book also can guide the majority of people about the negative effects of one time use items on the environment.

The biggest influence of this book on me was that it not only describing the environmental problems but also providing creative ideas about recycling, which made me curious to share this information with others. I also experimented some ideas by myself that boosted my confidence to do same in the future.

I believe that this book have potential to change the habits of a number of individuals about recycling if this book is promoted through social media or other platforms. When people would be aware regarding their unintentional activities, they can contribute to protecting the environment.

Thank you for making people aware about the important issue. I hope this information would be spread among a considerable amount of people by using alternative platforms.

Yours faithfully,

Soni.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

You have addressed all three bullet points of the task: describing the book, explaining its influence, and discussing its potential impact on others. The tone is appropriate for a letter to an editor. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. For example, when you mention that the book provided 'creative ideas about recycling', you do not specify what those ideas were, which would have made your response more engaging and fully developed. To reach a higher band, ensure that your explanations are more detailed and specific rather than relying on general statements.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The letter is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a closing. You use basic cohesive devices such as 'In addition', 'The biggest influence', and 'I also'. While these help the flow, the transitions between some sentences feel a bit mechanical. The paragraphing is appropriate, and the progression of ideas is easy to follow. To improve, try to use a wider variety of linking words and ensure that the referencing within paragraphs is tighter to avoid repetitive sentence structures.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'in-depth detail', 'unintentional activities', and 'considerable amount'. However, there are some minor inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'one time use items' (should be 'single-use items') and 'experimented some ideas' (should be 'experimented with some ideas'). The vocabulary is functional and allows for clear communication, but it lacks the precision and sophistication required for higher bands. Expanding your use of collocations would be beneficial.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is always clear, there are several grammatical errors that persist throughout the text. For instance, 'not only describing' should be 'not only described', 'this book have potential' should be 'this book has the potential', and 'do same' should be 'do the same'. Additionally, there are minor issues with article usage and verb tense consistency. While these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.