Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

Dear Sir/Madam,

I hope this letter finds you well. I am writing this letter to appreciate you about the book which you wrote and named as 'The book that influenced me most'.

It is a novel book, which I find most fascinationg. This book deliver the messge about the importance of positive thinking.

I bought this book last year from an exhibition. It has changed my life, before I was so depressed and always had negative thoughts. I finished this book within a month.

I would recommende this to others, who are facing same situation as like me. Peple should make habit to read this book atleast one page on daily basis.

I hope you will published more life changing books in your future.

Yours Faithfully,

Anju Pal

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The student has attempted all parts of the bullet points by describing the book, explaining its influence, and stating whether it would help others. However, there are some fundamental misunderstandings in the content: the writer addresses the letter to the magazine editor as if the editor personally wrote the book ('appreciate you about the book which you wrote'). Furthermore, the response is under-length, containing only 128 words against the required 150-word minimum, which impacts the overall development of ideas. Because the response falls short of the word count and has a slight misinterpretation regarding the author of the book, it fits best within Band 5.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The letter uses standard structural conventions such as a salutation ('Dear Sir/Madam') and a sign-off ('Yours Faithfully'), and it is broken down into brief paragraphs. However, the logical progression is weak due to the very short paragraphs and disjointed flow between sentences, such as 'It is a novel book, which I find most fascinationg. This book deliver the messge...' Cohesive devices are minimal and basic ('and', 'It', 'This book'). Overall paragraphing is used, but referencing is sometimes unclear, and the ideas feel somewhat abrupt. This corresponds to a Band 5.0 for Coherence and Cohesion.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is basic and repetitive, with several spelling and word-choice errors. Examples include 'fascinationg' instead of fascinating, 'deliver' instead of delivers, 'messge' instead of message, and 'recommende' instead of recommend. The writer attempts some less common vocabulary such as 'depressed' and 'exhibition', but the range is limited and minimally adequate for the task. Because the errors in spelling and word choice are noticeable and repetitive, the response satisfies the descriptors for Band 5.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The letter displays a very limited range of grammatical structures, relying mostly on simple sentences with occasional basic complex structures. There are several frequent grammatical errors, such as 'appreciate you about', 'before I was so depressed' (run-on/comma splice), 'are facing same situation as like me', 'make habit to read', and 'you will published'. These errors can cause occasional difficulty for the reader and demonstrate a lack of control over tense and preposition usage. This level of accuracy and range aligns with a Band 5.0.

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

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