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 Sujit,

I want to congratulate you for the opportunity that you got at the university of Vancouver. It is going to be a new and thrilling experience for you because you have never moved out of your city.

During my university days, I used to live two blocks away from the the place as it is convenient. It was a two bedroom apartment with all the amenities included. Supermarket, convenience stores were all close by.

The best way to look for an accomodation is to search on Facebook marketplace. There you can find quite affordable apartments with all the facilities. Other way to find a place is to ask your fellow students where are they living and if there any room available.

Furthermore, there are other things that you can keep in mind while choosing accomodation, do not rent a place which is too far from the university, otherwise you have to pay for bus fare or Uber. Additionally, look for decent roommates.

I wish you best of luck for your future and call or message me whenever you need me. Have a good time at the university.

Yours faithfully,

Anita

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.5

You have successfully addressed all three bullet points required by the task. You described your past living situation, recommended Facebook Marketplace as a search tool, and provided relevant warnings about distance and roommates. The tone is appropriate for an email to a friend. To improve, you could expand slightly on the 'why' behind your recommendations or warnings to provide more depth and better meet the requirements for a higher band. For example, explaining why specific neighborhoods are better or what kind of 'decent' roommates to look for would add more substance to your advice.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.5

The email is logically organized with clear paragraphing, where each paragraph focuses on a specific requirement of the prompt. You use some cohesive devices such as 'Furthermore' and 'Additionally' to link your ideas. However, the flow between sentences could be improved; some transitions feel a bit mechanical. For instance, the transition between the second and third paragraphs could be smoother. Using a wider variety of linking words and ensuring that referencing (e.g., 'the place' in the second paragraph) is always clear will help elevate your score in this criterion.

Lexical Resource — Band 7.0

You have a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey your message clearly. You use relevant terms like 'amenities', 'convenience stores', and 'accommodation'. There are a few minor errors, such as the spelling of 'accomodation' (which should be 'accommodation') and the phrasing 'opportunity that you got at the university', which could be more naturally expressed as 'opportunity you have been offered at the university'. To reach a higher band, try to incorporate more precise collocations and less common vocabulary to describe your experiences.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 7.0

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While your meaning is always clear, there are some grammatical slips, such as 'the the' (repetition), 'where are they living' (incorrect word order in an indirect question), and 'if there any room available' (missing verb 'is'). These errors do not impede communication, but they do affect the overall accuracy. To improve, focus on subject-verb agreement and word order in embedded questions. Increasing the variety of complex sentence structures will also help you demonstrate better control over your grammar.

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