Band 7.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-07-30

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

Your friend has been offered a place on a course at the university where you studied. He/She would like your advice about finding a place to live.

Write an email to your friend. In your email

• describe where you lived when you were a student at the university
• recommend the best way for him/her to look for accommodation
• warn him/her of mistakes students make when choosing accommodation

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your email as follows:

Dear ..........,

Student answer (Band 7.5)

Dear Sam,

I am writing this email to congratulate for getting admission at top ranked university. I will be happy to help you for everything you need.

In terms of the arrangements, I was living in a one bedroom apartment which was right across the street of the university, and was perfect for a student with fully furnished facility and everything included. Furthermore, I stayed there for 3 years as this city has lack of transportation, so I preferred to stay nearby at walking distance.

Considering the situation, I personally believe that kijiji is the best way for looking the place to stay for students. Moreover, they provide the best rates, and also filtered option of utilities and transportation facilities.

Undoubtedly, here students make a common mistake of sending money online as a deposit. To mention, never make online payments for renting the place there might be scam or fraud. Always make sure you hand the money at the time of moving.

Thank you for taking time to understand my point. Hope to hear from you soon.

Best regards,

Meet

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 8.0

You have successfully addressed all three bullet points in the prompt. You described your previous living situation, recommended a platform for finding accommodation, and provided a clear warning regarding potential scams. The tone is appropriate for an email to a friend, and the purpose of the letter is clear from the beginning. To improve, you could provide more specific details about your past accommodation, such as the type of building or the specific neighborhood, to make the advice feel more personal and well-developed. Overall, the response is relevant and fully satisfies the task requirements.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.5

The email is logically organized into distinct paragraphs, each focusing on a specific requirement of the prompt. You use cohesive devices such as 'Furthermore', 'Considering the situation', and 'Moreover' to link your ideas. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and the flow between sentences could be smoother. For instance, the transition between the warning about scams and the advice to pay in person could be more naturally integrated. Paragraphing is used effectively to separate the different topics, which helps the reader follow your advice easily.

Lexical Resource — Band 7.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for this task, using terms like 'fully furnished', 'transportation facilities', and 'fraud'. There are some minor collocation issues, such as 'congratulate for getting admission' (should be 'congratulate you on getting admission') and 'has lack of transportation' (should be 'lacks transportation' or 'has a lack of transportation'). While the vocabulary is sufficient to convey your meaning clearly, incorporating more varied or precise expressions would elevate the response. You generally use words accurately, and your meaning is never obscured by your word choices.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 7.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are some grammatical inaccuracies, such as 'looking the place' (should be 'looking for a place') and 'hand the money' (should be 'hand over the money'). Additionally, 'there might be scam or fraud' is missing an article ('a scam'). Despite these errors, your meaning is consistently clear, and the mistakes do not impede communication. To reach a higher band, focus on article usage and prepositional phrases, and try to incorporate a wider variety of complex sentence forms to demonstrate greater control.

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