Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-11

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 or Madam,

I am writing this letter to be a part of the magzine in which readers can contribute. i am fond of reading books and I want to contribute with one article from a book named Hanne Hanne Patshahi. The book is about Sikh history and share valuable information for humankind.

This book is about Sikh history and shares insights about their culture, battles and their kingdom. I love this book because it is written in very simple language, which is easy to read for beginners. The most interesting part is how they managed to rule the biggest empire in the past times without any racial discrimination. Moreover, there are no jails or cells at the time of Sikh Empire. Also, their religion taught us very good human values, such as respecting elders, and respecting everyone's religion. The book can also influence other people by teaching good values and people can learn about their history, culture and how they serve the community with their Guru's teachings.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully,

Singh

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You address all three points: you identify the book as being about Sikh history, explain that it taught you about values such as respect, and say it could influence others by teaching them about history and community service. The personal response—especially your interest in the empire’s lack of racial discrimination—gives the letter a clear purpose. This meets the task well, though some ideas are more fully covered than others: the book’s subject is described in several ways, while the specific change it made to your own actions or outlook is less clear. To strengthen the response further, explain one concrete way you apply a value from the book and give a more specific reason why other readers might respond to it.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The ideas follow a generally clear order: you introduce your contribution, describe the book, discuss its influence, and close the letter appropriately. Linking expressions such as “Moreover” and “Also” help connect details, and the final sentence returns to the effect on other readers. However, the first paragraph repeats the book’s subject in the next paragraph, and the long middle paragraph combines several points—language, the empire, prisons, and religious values—without clear grouping. Some connections, such as “Also, their religion,” are not fully explicit about who “their” refers to. Organise the content into distinct paragraphs and use clearer references to the book, Sikh rulers, and Sikh teachings to make progression smoother.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “Sikh history,” “racial discrimination,” “empire,” and “human values,” so the reader can understand the main ideas. There are also attempts at more specific expressions, such as “serve the community” and “Guru’s teachings.” However, some word choices and collocations are awkward or imprecise, including “contribute with one article from a book” and “in the past times.” The spelling “magzine” and the repeated use of “book” and “about” also limit the impression of control and range. Aim for more natural phrases for describing a contribution and the book’s impact, and check spelling carefully. This would make your vocabulary more precise and fluent.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and more complex sentence forms, including the relative clause in “which is easy to read for beginners” and the longer sentence beginning “The most interesting part is how…”. Most of the message remains understandable, and the closing conventions are appropriate. Some grammatical errors remain, however: “i am” needs a capital letter, “the book … share” should have subject–verb agreement, and “there are no jails or cells at the time” shifts awkwardly between present and past time. The sentence about the book being “named Hanne Hanne Patshahi” also needs a clearer grammatical construction. Review capitalization, agreement, and consistent tense, while continuing to use varied sentence structures.

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