Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-06

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 to express my opinion on the book that influenced me most.

Last week, I read a book entitled "Action Focused". This book was all about changing the habits and improving the lifestyle by taking continoues action rather than just thinking about something.

This book influenced me a lot in different ways. Firstly, I am inclined to overthink about everything. However, this book helped me to stay calm and now I follow the action-taking approach. Besides action-taking concept, this book also represents several ways to save your time and use in wisely in productive manner. For instance, there is one chapter in this book that says, we spend our most of the time doing things that are less productive and we ignore the important tasks.

I personally think that, this book would defenitely help other people to achieve their goals and they would be able to manage their time effectively.

Yours sincerely,

Neel Patel

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

The response successfully covers all parts of the prompt, addressing the book description, its personal influence, and its likely impact on others. A clear position is maintained throughout the letter. The ideas are generally well extended and supported, such as when the writer explains their overthinking tendency and provides an example about prioritising tasks. However, there is a slight tendency to overgeneralise or keep certain explanations straightforward rather than fully explored, which places this aspect of the writing firmly at the targeted level. The tone is appropriate for a magazine contribution, and all bullet points from the task instructions are adequately fulfilled without omitting any required elements.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

There is a clear logical organisation and progression throughout the letter. The response begins with an appropriate formal greeting and opening statement, moves smoothly into describing the book and its impact, and concludes naturally with a polite sign-off. Cohesive devices are used adequately to connect ideas, such as 'Firstly', 'However', and 'Besides action-taking concept', showing a clear overall arrangement. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately, separating the introduction, book description, personal influence, and future impact into distinct sections. While referencing and cohesion are generally clear, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, which prevents the essay from reaching a higher band.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The writer uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting some less common lexical items such as 'overthink', 'productive manner', and 'action-taking approach'. However, there are noticeable spelling and word choice errors that reflect the targeted level. For instance, 'continoues' contains a spelling error, 'use in wisely' has a grammatical prepositional error tied to vocabulary usage, and 'defenitely' is misspelled. Furthermore, phrases like 'improving the lifestyle' could be more natural. These vocabulary and spelling inaccuracies do not impede communication, but they restrict the lexical score because precision and control are occasionally lacking.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The writer demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing structures like relative clauses and contrasting conjunctions effectively. There are some good error-free sentences, such as 'I am writing to express my opinion on the book that influenced me most.' However, several grammatical errors persist throughout the text, including article omissions and article misuse, such as 'improving the lifestyle' instead of 'improving lifestyles', and 'use in wisely' instead of 'use it wisely'. Additionally, punctuation and minor structural awkwardness appear, as seen in 'we spend our most of the time'. These errors rarely impede communication, demonstrating the typical control and mixed accuracy expected at this level.

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