Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-24

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 writing to express my gratitude for the book that I had recently bought from you. It is based on the true story of a well-known actor, Dr. Alex. This book demonstrates the stuggles and challenges that Alex faced during his childhood and the way he overcome those situations to become successful.

By reading this book, I realised that the difficulties and hurdles are the crucial steps to success and help us to become mentally strong. Moreover, the way he used to avoid the negativity during his early stage is really impressive which motivates me to focus only building carrier rather than worrying about negative comments by other individuals.

I would really recommend this book to the people going through their hard times, because it will motivate them to move forward in their life despite chasing the worst situations.

I appreciate that you suggest me to buy this book and I will contact you further in case if I would think to buy the another one.

Yours faithfully

Chirag Kumar Mair

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You cover the three requested points: you identify the book as a true story about Dr Alex, describe his childhood struggles, explain that it taught you to treat difficulties as steps towards success, and recommend it to people facing hard times. However, the response only partially fulfils the letter task because it is framed as a thank-you for a book bought from the editor, rather than as a contribution about a personally influential book. The book’s subject and your personal change are also described quite generally; for example, you do not give a specific example of how the lesson affected your actions. The prediction that it could influence others is relevant but brief. A clearer focus on the magazine’s article and more developed personal detail would make the response more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The letter has a coherent overall arrangement: it introduces the book, explains its effect on you, recommends it to readers, and closes politely. Paragraphing helps distinguish these stages, and linking expressions such as “Moreover” and “because” make relationships between ideas clear. Some connections are less smooth or precise, however. The final paragraph shifts back to thanking the editor for recommending a purchase, which does not follow naturally from the magazine contribution. In the second paragraph, the long sentence beginning “Moreover” combines the author’s example with your career motivation, making the main point harder to follow. Keep the focus consistent and use shorter, clearly connected sentences where several ideas are being explained.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a relevant range of vocabulary, including “struggles,” “hurdles,” “mentally strong,” “negativity,” and “motivates,” to discuss the book’s message. These choices generally communicate your meaning, but several spelling and word-choice or collocation errors reduce precision: “stuggles,” “overcome,” “building carrier,” and “chasing the worst situations.” Some phrases are also awkward, such as “move forward in their life” and “early stage.” The vocabulary is adequate for the topic, but greater control of natural combinations would make the letter clearer and more fluent. Choose precise expressions such as “build my career,” “overcome adversity,” and “despite difficult circumstances,” and check spelling before submitting.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You use both simple and more developed sentence forms, including the relative clause in “the way he used to avoid the negativity” and the reason clause introduced by “because.” The main ideas remain understandable, but some grammatical errors occur in verb forms, articles, and sentence patterns. For example, “the way he overcome” needs a past-tense verb, while “focus only building” is missing a grammatical link such as “on.” The closing sentence, “in case if I would think to buy the another one,” has several problems with conditional structure and article use. Review verb tense consistency and common patterns after verbs and prepositions, and simplify sentences when unsure; this will improve accuracy while preserving your attempts at complex structures.

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