Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

Dear sir,

How are you doing? I'm writing in response to your call in contributionfor the article, the book that influenced me te most'. I would like to share my experience with a book that had impact in my life.

The book that influenced me the most is "Things Fall Apart" by Chinue Achebe. It is an african novel about a man Okonkwo, a strong man whose life was was affected by the arrival of colonalism. This book explores cultures, tradition and change.

The book influenced me greatly because it changed my perspective on african history and identity. Before now, I had little or no knowledge about my own culture but this novel has taught me the importance of understanding our root. It taught me the consequences of stubborness.

I believe this book will have great impact on young Nigerians and anyone interested in culture. I hope you will find my contribution interesting for your article.

Yours faithfully,

Ozioma Esther.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response covers all parts of the task prompt successfully. You address the editor appropriately, describe the book 'Things Fall Apart', explain how it influenced your perspective on African history and identity, and discuss whether it would appeal to other readers, specifically young Nigerians. All three bullet points from the instructions are clearly addressed. To move to a higher band, the ideas could be developed further with more elaboration or specific examples from the book, as some descriptions remain somewhat general, such as mentioning traditions and changes without giving concrete narrative examples.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The letter maintains a clear and coherent overall arrangement. It opens with an appropriate salutation and moves logically through the introduction, the book description, the personal influence, and the concluding thoughts. Paragraphing is used sufficiently to separate distinct ideas, such as grouping the book description in the second paragraph and its personal impact in the third. Cohesion is generally adequate, although referencing and linking could be smoother to elevate the flow of the writing. Improving the variety of transition words and ensuring seamless connections between sentences would enhance the overall logical progression.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, successfully communicating your personal experience and opinions. You attempt some less common vocabulary, such as 'perspective', 'consequences', and 'colonalism', although there are noticeable spelling errors ('contributionfor', 'te', 'Chinue', 'colonalism', 'stubborness') and minor word-choice inaccuracies. To reach a higher band, a wider and more precise range of vocabulary needs to be used with greater accuracy in spelling and collocation, avoiding repetitive phrasing and incorporating more sophisticated, natural-sounding expressions suitable for a magazine contribution.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

There is a mix of simple and complex sentence forms used throughout the letter, such as 'The book that influenced me the most is "Things Fall Apart" by Chinue Achebe' and 'Before now, I had little or no knowledge about my own culture but this novel has taught me...'. While many basic structures are accurate, there are some grammatical errors and typos, such as repeated words ('life was was affected') and minor punctuation slips. These errors rarely impede communication, but to achieve a higher band, a greater variety of error-free complex structures and tighter grammatical control are necessary.

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