Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing in response to your magazine's request for contributions about books that have had a significant impact on readers.I would like to recommend book named walking with nanak by haroon khalid,which has a lasting impact on me.

The book tells the story of a religious poet and founder of sikhism Guru Nanak dev ji who travelled across the lenght and breadth of pakistan as he visited many gurudwaras and othes locales associated with him. But this is not merely about gurdwaras, it is also a retelling of the story of nanak the son, the poet, the wanderer, the father, the brother, the friend.

This book influeced me by changing the way i look at difficult situations and it made me a little kind towards nature. I have always been a strictictly religious person who tends to believe in mankind after reading this book i felt more connected to nature and how important is go out and see the world.

I believe this book could influence many other people of all generations who tends to read about someone who left all the materialstic things behind and started the journey to be a saint from a poet.

Thank you for considering my contribution.i hope you find it suitable for your article.

Yours faithfully

Arshpreet Kaur

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The candidate has successfully addressed all three parts of the prompt in a natural and engaging manner. The letter begins appropriately with 'Dear Sir or Madam' and covers the book's content, personal influence, and potential impact on other readers. Specifically, the student describes 'Walking with Nanak' by Haroon Khalid, details how it shifted her perspective on difficult situations and nature, and evaluates its broad appeal to people of various generations. The ideas are relevant and well-developed, with a clear and consistent purpose throughout the letter. The response meets all criteria for this section effectively, demonstrating a clear understanding of the task requirements without any extraneous tangents.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The response shows a clear overall progression from introduction to body paragraphs and conclusion. Paragraphing is used adequately to separate distinct themes, such as the book's description, its personal impact, and its general appeal. Cohesive devices are generally used appropriately, though some transitions feel a bit mechanical or abrupt, such as the sudden shift in the third paragraph: 'I have always been a strictictly religious person who tends to believe in mankind after reading this book i felt more connected to nature...' Punctuation and spacing errors around commas and periods slightly disrupt the flow in places, but overall, the structure remains coherent and easy to follow.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The candidate uses an adequate and sufficiently varied range of vocabulary to discuss the topic. Expressions like 'length and breadth', 'retelling of the story', and 'materialistic things' demonstrate a satisfactory grasp of language. However, there are some noticeable spelling and lexical slips, such as 'strictictly' instead of 'strictly', lowercase capitalization for proper nouns ('sikhism', 'nanak', 'pakistan'), and minor collocation issues. Despite these errors, the vocabulary is precise enough to convey the intended meaning clearly without impeding communication, positioning this response comfortably within the Band 6 territory.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, incorporating relative clauses and compound sentences (e.g., '...a religious poet and founder of sikhism Guru Nanak dev ji who travelled across the lenght and breadth of pakistan as he visited many gurudwaras...'). Control over grammar is generally acceptable, but there are frequent punctuation and capitalization errors, run-on sentences, and occasional missing articles or capitalization omissions (e.g., 'book named walking with nanak', 'how important is go out'). While these errors occur regularly, they do not obscure the meaning of the letter, reflecting the characteristics of Band 6 grammar.

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