Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-30

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 this letter in response to give my feedback for an article called " The book that influenced me most. I personally enjoyed biography books and the one which admires me the most is the biography of Sher-E-Punjab (Maharaja Ranjit Singh). Thie book is all about a famous sikh ruler who established the Sikh Empire in Punjab.

This book taught me several life lessons. Firstly, I learned the real meaning of equality as it taught me to treat everyone equally, no matter a person is rich or poor. Secondly, it encouraged me to do hardwork and never give up. This is because, Maharaja Ranjit singh was a disabled child but still he never giveup on his dream to become a military leader.

This book is very knowledgeble book as it

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The candidate has attempted all parts of the prompt by stating the book and its subject, explaining its influence, and touching upon whether it could influence others. However, the response is incomplete as it cuts off mid-sentence at the end of the text. Furthermore, the length check confirms the response contains 136 words, falling short of the mandatory 150-word minimum. This negative impact on task completion, combined with the abrupt ending and under-development of the final point regarding other people, places the response at Band 5.0.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The letter opens with standard conventions ('Dear Sir or Madam,') and makes a clear attempt to paragraph ideas, grouping the introduction, book description, lessons learned, and the broken final paragraph. Cohesive devices such as 'Firstly' and 'Secondly' are used to structure the points. However, referencing is occasionally repetitive, and the sudden, incomplete cut-off at the end severely disrupts the overall flow and organizational structure, resulting in a Band 5.5 score.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is generally adequate for the task, with some attempts at less common items such as 'biography', 'established', and 'disabled child'. There are, however, noticeable word choice and spelling inaccuracies, including 'admires me' instead of 'inspires me', 'Thie book', 'knowledgeble', and 'giveup'. These errors show a limited range and some spelling slips that reflect a Band 5.0 level.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as 'as it taught me to treat everyone equally, no matter a person is rich or poor' and 'This is because, Maharaja Ranjit singh was a disabled child but still he never giveup'. There are several grammatical and mechanical errors, including capitalization issues ('Maharaja Ranjit singh'), missing articles, and subject-verb agreement problems. However, the meaning remains mostly clear, supporting a Band 5.0 score.

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

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