Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-19

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 or Madam

i am writing to tell you about the book that has influenced me the most the book is the alchemist by paulo coelho.it is a story about a young shepherd named santiago who dreams of finding a treasure he decides to follow his dreams and travels to different places during his journey he learns many important lessons about life courage hard work and following your dreams

i believe this book could influence many others people as well especially young people its message about following your dreams and never giving up is simple but powerful i would definitely recommend it to anyone who needs motivation in life.

yours faithfully

Aqib Ali Shah

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response covers all three bullet points required in the prompt. You successfully describe what the book 'The Alchemist' by Paulo Coelho is about, explaining that it follows a shepherd named Santiago searching for treasure and learning important life lessons. You also explain how it influenced you by providing motivation, and state whether it would influence others. However, a significant drawback is the length requirement. The response contains only 115 words, which falls well short of the 150-word minimum specified for General Training Task 1. Because the task is substantially under-length, your score for Task Achievement is capped at Band 5.0. To improve, ensure you fully develop your ideas and write at least the minimum required word count.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The letter maintains a coherent overall arrangement and follows a logical structure appropriate for a formal letter. You begin with an appropriate salutation, follow with two body paragraphs addressing the prompt's requirements, and sign off correctly with 'yours faithfully Aqib Ali Shah'. However, the lack of punctuation (missing periods and commas throughout the text) makes the cohesion faulty and mechanical, as sentences run into one another without clear boundaries. Paragraphing is used, but the absence of conventional punctuation detracts from the overall flow and readability of the response. To achieve a higher band score in Coherence and Cohesion, you must use standard punctuation marks to clearly separate your sentences and ideas.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

Your vocabulary is adequate for the task, successfully communicating your personal experience and opinions. You use relevant and appropriate everyday terms such as 'shepherd', 'treasure', 'journey', and 'motivation'. However, the lexical range is rather limited and basic, with frequent repetition of phrases like 'following your dreams'. There are no ambitious or less common lexical items attempted, and the vocabulary remains at a simple level throughout the text. To improve your lexical resource score, you should incorporate a wider variety of synonyms and more sophisticated, less common vocabulary items related to personal reflection and literary impact.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.5

The grammatical range is extremely limited, consisting almost entirely of simple sentences. Furthermore, there is a total absence of capitalization and punctuation throughout the text; sentences begin with lowercase letters (e.g., 'i am writing', 'it is a story') and lack ending punctuation like periods or commas. This lack of basic punctuation represents frequent and systematic errors that impair the grammatical presentation of your writing. While the meaning remains mostly understandable despite these errors, the lack of complex sentence structures and punctuation prevents you from scoring higher. To improve, you need to demonstrate a mix of complex sentence structures and exercise correct punctuation and capitalization.

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

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