Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-19

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,

Trust you are doing well.

I have been reading your magazine since my childhood. I wait relentlessly for a new edition every month.

Recently I read an article in your magazine "The Book that influenced me most" and the first book that came to mind was "The Martian". A book about an stranded Astronaut at Mars who had no one but his skills to survive.

The main character of that book was a Biology Engineer who beautifully used the available resources, merely, riped potatoes to farm. Using the compost and stabilizing the atmosphere of the shuttle, he tried farming the potatotes on Mars. The book beautifully helps the reader to picture someone at the peak usage of survival skills.

After reading that book, I couldn't help but wonder how priviledged I am here with all the necessary resources available to me and how crucial it is to learn those survival skills in case of emergencies.

The book had so much infuenced on me that I signed up for three-days emergency training program at our local police station. And this has been on my always to-do list and I don't miss any opportunity of learning.

I am sure, if anybody who has a passion or dream of becomming an Astronaut one day, must have read this book already. If not, this one is really a recommended one to read.

Please let me know your thoughts and hope through your maagazine I could find like-minded people.

Thanks,

Hayyan Tahir

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You address all three points: you describe the survival story on Mars, explain that it prompted you to reflect on your preparedness and attend emergency training, and give a view on its potential influence on aspiring astronauts. The personal example makes your response relevant and persuasive. The description of the book is less clear in places, however: the account of farming potatoes and stabilising the shuttle’s atmosphere is difficult to follow, and the final claim focuses mainly on people who dream of becoming astronauts rather than explaining more broadly who else might benefit. To strengthen the response, clarify the book’s central premise and develop why its lessons could influence a wider range of readers. The letter’s purpose and personal viewpoint are already clear.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The letter has a coherent overall arrangement: an opening to the editor, a description of the book, your personal response, and a concluding recommendation. Paragraph breaks help distinguish these stages, and the sequence from reading the book to signing up for training is easy to follow. Some links between ideas are less smooth, though. The paragraph beginning “The main character” moves quickly from his occupation to farming details and then to a general comment about survival skills. The final paragraph also shifts abruptly from aspiring astronauts to a request to find like-minded readers. Use clearer transitions and make each paragraph’s main point more explicit; this would make the progression feel less like a series of separate statements while preserving the effective personal structure.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a reasonable range of vocabulary for describing the book and its effect, including “survival skills,” “necessary resources,” “emergency training program,” and “like-minded people.” These choices communicate your main ideas, and some phrasing shows an attempt to be expressive. However, several inaccurate or unnatural choices reduce precision: “wait relentlessly” does not naturally describe anticipating a magazine, “an stranded Astronaut” has an incorrect article, and “the book had so much influenced on me” uses an unsuitable word form and collocation. There are also spelling errors such as “priviledged,” “becomming,” and “maagazine.” Aim for natural collocations and check spelling carefully; more precise wording would make your account sound more fluent and assured.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use both short sentences and more developed structures, including the sentence explaining how the book led you to reflect on your circumstances and the clause beginning “if anybody…”. Most of the message remains understandable, and errors rarely prevent the reader from following your meaning. Some grammatical problems are noticeable, however. “A book about an stranded Astronaut” is a sentence fragment, while “if anybody who has a passion… must have read this book” combines clauses in a way that does not form a correct conditional. In “I signed up for three-days emergency training program,” the noun phrase also needs more accurate grammatical marking. Review sentence boundaries, articles, and conditional structures, and proofread punctuation so that complex ideas are expressed in complete, controlled sentences.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.