Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-24

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 request fpr readers' contribution to the article entitled "The book that influenced me most". I would like to share my thoughts about wings of fire,the autobiography of Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam,which had significantly influence me.

The book describes Dr.Kalam's life journey from a humble childhood in Rameshwaram to becoming a renowned scientist.after some time he eventually became the president of India. it explains the difficulties he faced throughout his life,as well as his contribution to india's space and defense programmes.also became one of the top scientist of I.S.R.O. What i found particularly inspring was his strong determination to achieve his goals despite having limited resources.And he was the very hummble person to every one without having ego of scientist ot some famous person.

This book influenced me by changing my attitude towards challanges and failure.Before reading it, I sometimes gave up when things did not go according to plan.However, Dr. Kalam's life taught me that sucess require patience,hard working,continious learning. His story encourage me to set higher goals and remain positive even face difficulties.it also motivated me to belive that person's background does not have to determine their future.

In my opinion,this book could influence other people,especially young students and those who are struggling to achive their ambitions.Its message about preserverance,education and self-confidence is universal.I belive many readers would find Dr. Kalam's journey both inspiring and motivating.

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

Yours Faithfully,

Patel

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

The candidate has successfully addressed all bullet points outlined in the task instructions. The letter begins appropriately and covers what the book ('Wings of Fire') was about, including Dr. Kalam's background and achievements. It clearly explains how the book influenced the student's attitude toward challenges and failures. Furthermore, the response properly discusses whether the book would be likely to influence other people, specifically targeting students and those striving to achieve their ambitions. The tone is suitable for a magazine contribution, and the position is clear throughout. The ideas are extended and supported effectively, earning a solid Band 7.0 for Task Achievement.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response demonstrates a clear logical organisation and progression throughout. The letter is divided into appropriate paragraphs, each serving a distinct function, such as introduction, plot summary, personal impact, and recommendations. Cohesive devices like 'However', 'In my opinion', and 'What I found particularly inspiring' are used adequately to guide the reader. Although there are some minor mechanical issues with cohesion at the sentence level—such as occasional run-on sentences and minor referencing slips—the overall arrangement is coherent. The paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately, satisfying the descriptors for a Band 6.5 or 7.0.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'autobiography', 'perseverance', 'humble', and 'ambitions'. However, there are notable spelling errors ('fpr', 'inspiring' spelled as 'inspring', 'challenges' as 'challanges', 'success' as 'sucess', 'hard working' as a noun instead of 'hard work', 'continious', 'encourage' instead of 'encouraged', 'belive', 'achive', 'preserverance') and some word choice inaccuracies. These lexical and orthographic errors are frequent enough to restrict the band score to 6.0, as they occasionally distract the reader, although they do not impede overall communication.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating the ability to structure relative clauses ('which had significantly influenced me') and adverbial clauses ('Before reading it, I sometimes gave up...'). However, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly regarding tense consistency, subject-verb agreement, capitalization ('india's', 'i.s.r.o.'), and missing articles. For example, 'had significantly influence me' should be 'had significantly influenced me', and 'success require' should be 'success requires'. Punctuation is also faulty in places with missing spaces after commas. Because the errors occur frequently across both simple and complex structures, the response fits the Band 6.0 profile.

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