Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-26

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 4.5)

1 .i think a good book name of the "beutiful palce dream in my life" this book was life a amzingtion in our lifeatyle and your look change, or though was life success in fufcher.

2.this book was a giving from my friend to me gifts.her gift his life real dream a come ture.or mind was fresh and good thoughts other people inspair to me.

3.i think so people life time change book and our life successfull dream helping us.other people life goals in set ypur lifetime dream.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

You identify a book and make an attempt to address its subject, personal influence, and possible effect on others. However, these points are only minimally developed: the title is unclear, the book’s actual content is not explained, and statements such as “our life successfull dream helping us” do not show specifically how it changed you. The response also does not use the requested letter format: it has no greeting, direct address to the editor, or closing. The required minimum length is not met, which leaves too little detail to fulfil the three bullet points. To improve, explain the book’s main message, give a personal example of its influence, and say who else might benefit and why.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

There is some basic organisation: the response separates its ideas into three numbered sections, broadly corresponding to the book, its influence, and its effect on others. This gives the reader a rough sense of the intended structure. However, numbering is not appropriate for a letter, and the ideas within each section do not progress clearly. For example, “her gift his life real dream a come ture” is difficult to connect to the book’s influence. Linking words such as “or” and “and” are used without making the relationships between ideas clear. Use paragraphs in a conventional letter, connect each point with clear transitions, and make sure each sentence develops one understandable idea.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

The response uses a small set of relevant basic words, including “book,” “friend,” “dream,” “life,” and “people,” so the general topic can be recognised. However, vocabulary is highly repetitive, and frequent spelling and word-choice problems make several ideas difficult to understand. For instance, “beutiful palce dream in my life” does not communicate a clear book title, while “amazingtion” and “fufcher” are not correctly formed words. Phrases such as “life successfull dream” also do not express the intended meaning naturally. Build a more precise vocabulary for describing a book’s message and its effect, and check spelling and common word combinations before submitting.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

You attempt to express several ideas in sentences and use a few basic connectors, but grammatical control is very limited. Errors are frequent and sometimes distort meaning, as in “this book was life a amzingtion in our lifeatyle” and “her gift his life real dream a come ture.” Sentence boundaries and punctuation are also inconsistent: the numbered fragments do not form clear, complete sentences, and capitalisation is irregular. There is little evidence of varied sentence structures, so the reader has to infer how the ideas relate. Practise building accurate simple sentences first, with a clear subject and verb, then join related ideas using structures such as “because” or “which.”

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