Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-03

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 5.5)

Dear sir,

I am Khushbu Chawda. I would like to draw your attention to the book that influenced most individuals and me. The name of the bopublication is 'The power of the subcoscious mind by Joseph Murphy'.

In addition, it played a vital role into my life. The moral of this log, if you think with your conscious mind, and whatever you habitually think sinks down into your suconscious mind, which creates according to the nature of your thoughts. For instance, if you think good, good will follow; if you think evil, evil will follow.

This is the log which actually motivate people, and indeed helps them to make your thinking healthy, harmonious and constructive. Moreover, peace of mind and a fit body are inevitable when you begin th think and feel in the right way.

I hope you will read and include my contribution into magazine.

Yours faithfully,

Khushbu

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, successfully describing the book, explaining its influence, and discussing its potential effect on others. However, some aspects are handled more fully than others. For example, while the explanation of the book's core message is provided through references to conscious and subconscious thought, the description of how it specifically influenced you is somewhat under-developed and relies on broad statements rather than extended, concrete examples. Ideas are generally relevant, but the overall development remains basic, aligning well with a level where the task is covered adequately without complete expansion across every bullet point.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The letter maintains a coherent overall arrangement with a recognisable beginning and ending, adopting the requested opening of 'Dear sir,'. Paragraphing is used to separate the introduction, body points, and conclusion. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical or faulty, as seen in transitions like 'In addition,' and 'Moreover,' which do not always logically connect the specific ideas being presented. Referencing is also slightly unclear in places, such as when the term 'log' is used repeatedly in place of 'book', causing some disruption in the logical flow and progression of the ideas throughout the text.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

An adequate vocabulary range is employed to complete the task successfully. There are clear attempts to use less common and topic-specific vocabulary, such as 'subconscious mind', 'harmonious', and 'constructive'. However, these attempts are accompanied by noticeable inaccuracies in word choice, spelling, and word forms, such as 'bopublication' for publication, 'subcoscious' for subconscious, and using 'log' inappropriately to mean a book. Fortunately, despite these lexical slips and spelling errors, meaning is still communicated clearly enough for the reader to follow the main points of the letter.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writing demonstrates a mix of simple and some complex sentence forms, such as conditional-style phrasing like 'if you think good, good will follow'. However, there are several errors in grammar, prepositions, and verb patterns throughout the text, including 'influenced most individuals and me', 'played a vital role into my life', and 'begin th think'. Punctuation and article usage also show occasional lapses. These errors occur with some frequency and occasionally cause mild difficulty for the reader, though they do not completely impede overall communication.

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