Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

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

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 a regualr reader of your monthly magazine, upon reading reading this month's issue where it was mentioned you are encouraging readers for a book that influenced one the most. I am eager to make my contribution.

The book that influenced me the most was Atomic habits by James Clear. This book describes how building micro habits can positively impact your life. It is also NEW York Times best seller of all time accross the self help genre.

It was recommended to me by one of my mentors when I was preparing for pre medical test back in india. There is a cut throat competition when it comes to national exam like this where passing rate is less than one percent when over each year twenty million students appear for it. This book helped me build strong habits from everyday work routine to monthly goals aand finally excelling the exam.

In this competitive age it will be of great help for young students preparing for exams like this. Not only does it help in academic but also in building routiner when it comes to work, diet self help etc. I hope my recommendation is of great help to anyone who wishes to give it a go.

Yours sincerely,

Ranbir

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

You address all three points clearly: you identify Atomic Habits and its focus on small habits, explain how it helped you prepare for a demanding medical entrance exam, and recommend it to students and others. The personal context and the example of turning daily routines into goals make your influence explanation convincing and relevant. Your view that the book could help others is also clear, although the final claim about its benefits for work, diet and self-help is broad and would be stronger with one specific example of how another reader might apply it. Overall, the letter fulfils its purpose and develops its main ideas, with some tendency to generalise in the recommendation.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The letter has a clear overall progression: you introduce your reason for writing, describe the book, explain its effect on you, and finish by recommending it. Paragraphing supports this sequence, and links such as “It was recommended to me” and “In this competitive age” help connect the ideas. However, the opening sentence is crowded and repeats “reading,” which makes the transition into your purpose less smooth. The long sentence about the exam also packs several facts together, while the final paragraph moves quickly between academic, work and lifestyle benefits. More controlled sentence boundaries and clearer links between these examples would make the progression more consistently easy to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range for the topic, including relevant expressions such as “micro habits,” “cut throat competition,” “passing rate” and “build strong habits.” These help communicate the book’s practical influence and the pressure of the exam. There are also some inaccurate spellings and word choices, including “regualr,” “accross,” “routiner” and “aand,” as well as the awkward phrase “encouraging readers for a book.” “Excelling the exam” is not a natural collocation; “performing well in the exam” would be clearer. These errors do not prevent understanding, but more accurate spelling and more natural collocations would make your vocabulary more precise and controlled.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of sentence forms, including the complex opening with “upon reading” and the contrastive structure “Not only does it help…”. The main message remains understandable, but some grammatical errors recur. For example, the opening sentence lacks a clear main structure after “upon reading,” and “when over each year twenty million students appear for it” has an awkward clause arrangement. In “it help in academic,” the verb does not agree with its subject, and the construction needs a clearer noun phrase. Punctuation is also needed to separate ideas in the final list. Aim for shorter, complete sentences first, then use complex structures where you can control their clauses and agreement.

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