Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-14

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 6.0)

Dear sir,

I have read an article about the contributions of the readers called "The book that influenced me most". I would like to contribute as a reader to it.

The book that fascinates me is written by Frieda Mcfaden and the name of book is "The Housemaid".

This particular book inspired me because it depicts the story of a girl that how she have struggled in her life. She use to sleep in a car, she did not had food to eat but eventually she found a job in a well off house. She worked day and night to secure her future and eventually she did and that mostly inspired me she had nothing before but with the hard work she achieved her goal.

Moreover, her life struggles were truly inspiring that by the end of the book she builds her own house and she have started running her small business. This book will definitely influence the readers.

Your's faithfully,

Suman Malhi

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response covers all parts of the task well. You successfully identified a book, described its plot, explained its personal impact on you, and stated whether it would likely influence others. For instance, you mentioned the book 'The Housemaid' by Frieda Mcfaden and explained how the protagonist's struggles and hard work inspired you. Your ideas are relevant and clearly address the prompt requirements, making the purpose of the letter immediately clear to the editor. However, some ideas are slightly repetitive regarding the character's struggles, which prevents a higher band. Overall, you have fulfilled the task requirements effectively.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter follows a generally logical structure with an appropriate greeting and sign-off, although the sign-off contains a slight punctuation error ('Your's faithfully'). The progression of ideas is fairly clear as you move from introducing the book to describing the plot and its impact. However, the paragraphing is somewhat weak; all the body points are compressed into a single large paragraph rather than being separated into distinct thematic paragraphs. Additionally, cohesive devices are somewhat basic (e.g., 'Moreover', 'and eventually'). Improving paragraph division and using a wider variety of linking words would enhance the overall flow.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common items such as 'fascinates', 'depicts', and 'well off house'. However, there are several word choice and spelling errors that affect precision, such as 'Mcfaden' (instead of McFadden), 'she use to sleep' (instead of 'used to'), 'did not had food' (instead of 'didn't have'), and 'have started running' (instead of 'started running'). Despite these errors, the meaning remains clear throughout the response, allowing the reader to follow your thoughts without serious difficulty.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'This particular book inspired me because it depicts the story of a girl that how she have struggled in her life.' However, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with verb tenses and auxiliary verbs, including 'she have struggled', 'she did not had', and 'she have started'. Punctuation is also slightly flawed in the opening and closing (e.g., 'Dear sir' instead of 'Dear Sir or Madam,' as instructed, and 'Your's faithfully'). These errors require some effort to decode at times, placing the performance firmly in the Band 5.5 range.

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