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 or Madam,

I am writing this letter to express my views on the topic 'The book that influenced me the most' as you asked about it from your readers.

The book I would like to mention here is ' Tit for Tat to Treat for Tat. It is written on personality development by a famous writer Mr. Prabhsimran Singh. It is rewarded as best seller in year 2018 and are available in three parts.

It consists of varoius stories which helps an individual to understand how to tackle problems related to stress, anxiety and choices to be made in life. That's why I am very much influenced by this book.

I think, this book will inflence others also. Unlike, other psychological books, facts are explained in simple sentences. Along with it, concepts are explained with the help of stories which helps in making connection of it with real time situations of life.

Hope you will find my feedback useful.

Yours Sincerely,

Gurpreet

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The candidate successfully covers all parts of the prompt in this General Training letter. The purpose of the letter is clear from the opening, and all three bullet points are addressed. The book is described, stating it is written by Mr. Prabhsimran Singh on personality development in three parts. The influence is explained by noting how the stories help readers tackle stress, anxiety, and life choices. Finally, the likelihood of influencing others is discussed, mentioning that the simple sentences and relatable stories make it widely accessible. While the ideas could be slightly more extended for a higher band, all task requirements are adequately met, aligning well with the Band 6 descriptor.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter maintains a coherent overall arrangement and follows an appropriate layout for a correspondence to an editor, starting with the conventional 'Dear Sir or Madam' and closing with 'Yours Sincerely'. The paragraphing is used sufficiently, with distinct paragraphs for the introduction, the book's description, its influence, and its potential appeal to others. However, cohesion is at times mechanical or slightly faulty, such as the abrupt transition in 'That's why I am very much influenced by this book.' and the misuse of 'Unlike, other psychological books' where the comma is unnecessary. Referencing is generally clear, but the logical progression could be smoother between sentences to achieve a higher score.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'personality development', 'tackle problems', and 'psychological books'. However, there are notable spelling errors ('varoius' instead of various, 'inflence' instead of influence) and awkward word choices or collocations, such as 'It is rewarded as best seller' instead of 'It was awarded' or 'It became a bestseller'. Additionally, 'Tit for Tat to Treat for Tat' contains minor phrasing oddities. These lexical inaccuracies do not impede communication, placing the response solidly in the Band 6 range.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over relative clauses and participial phrases, such as 'stories which helps an individual to understand...'. However, there are frequent grammatical errors and punctuation slips throughout the text. For instance, subject-verb agreement is incorrect in 'stories which helps' and 'concepts are explained... which helps'. There is also a plural/singular mismatch in 'and are available in three parts' referring back to a singular book title, and an unnecessary comma in 'Unlike, other psychological books'. Despite these errors, the meaning remains clear and communication is not impeded, reflecting the descriptors for Band 6.

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

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