Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-21

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 to express my opinion regarding a book that I recently read for an article called 'The book that influenced me the most'.

I read 'The power of your subconscious mind' book written by Joseph Murphy a couple of months ago. It emphasised the working of our subconscious mind that signals to our conscious mind and responsible for every thought and positive thinking. In addition, it included real life examples of people to make the learning more engaging.

This book has a great influence on my life, as I see everything positively after reading it. It has changed my life completely by developing my positive mindset. Nowadays, I feel delighted and relaxed because I implemented some lessons of the book in my life.

I would say this book definitely influence other people in a positive way. It insist on the posi

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The student has attempted all parts of the prompt by describing the book, explaining its influence, and stating its potential effect on others. The response clearly identifies the book 'The power of your subconscious mind' and touches upon its core themes and personal impacts. However, the letter is cut off mid-sentence at the end, and the word count is 147 words, which fails to meet the minimum 150-word requirement. This under-length issue, combined with some under-development in the final bullet point where the sentence is incomplete ('It insist on the posi'), caps the task achievement score at Band 5.5. To improve, the student must ensure the task is fully completed without abrupt endings and that the word count requirement is strictly met.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter follows an appropriate format with a standard salutation and an introductory paragraph outlining the purpose. Paragraphing is used to separate different aspects of the response, such as the book's description and its personal influence. Cohesive devices such as 'In addition' and 'Nowadays' are employed, although referencing and transitions feel somewhat mechanical. Because the response ends abruptly in the final paragraph, the overall progression is disrupted near the conclusion. To achieve a higher band score, the writer needs to ensure smoother transitions between ideas and a fully completed concluding paragraph that maintains logical flow from start to finish.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms like 'subconscious mind', 'engaging', and 'delighted'. There are attempts at less common lexical items, but some awkward phrasing occurs, such as referring to ''The power of your subconscious mind' book' instead of simply 'the book 'The Power of Your Subconscious Mind''. Word choice is generally appropriate for conveying personal opinions, though errors like 'insist' instead of 'insists' show occasional inaccuracies. To reach a higher band, the writer should incorporate a wider variety of precise collocations and more sophisticated vocabulary without collocation slips.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as 'I am writing to express my opinion regarding a book that I recently read...' and 'This book has a great influence on my life, as I see everything positively after reading it.' There are some grammatical errors, notably 'that signals to our conscious mind and responsible for every thought' (missing a verb like 'is') and the third-person singular agreement error 'It insist'. Punctuation is generally acceptable, but the incomplete final sentence prevents a full assessment of complex sentence control at the end. Overall, communication is rarely impeded by these errors.

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