Band 7.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-07-31

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 Mary,

I hope you are well. Congratulations my darling! on your admission to study Pharmacy at the popular University of Benin in Nigeria. I read your letter asking for my advice on how to get a suitable hostel accommodation.

During my undergraduate days, I stayed at Esther hostel, which had clean water supply and a stable light supply. The presence of those amenities made my stay in the hostel more convenient and made studying less stressful, thus this improved my academic performance greatly.

I recommend that you use the school website to look for a good accommodation and their prices, while surfing the website you can see various rooms such as a single apartment or shared apartment based on your budget. Kindly ensure that you inspect the accommodation that the rooms are to your taste and free from rodents. This is because many students make the mistake of not inspecting the room.

Kindly let me know if you have any questions regarding any hostel. Congratulations once again.

Warms regards,

Aisosa.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.5

The response covers all three bullet points required by the prompt. You described your past accommodation at Esther hostel, recommended using the university website, and provided a warning about the importance of inspecting rooms. The tone is appropriate for an email to a friend. The ideas are relevant and clearly presented. To reach a higher band, you could expand slightly more on the 'warning' section by providing a specific example of what might go wrong if a student fails to inspect a room, which would add more depth to your advice.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.5

The email is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs addressing the specific requirements, and a closing. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the different points. You use some cohesive devices such as 'During my undergraduate days', 'I recommend that', and 'This is because', which help the flow of information. The progression of ideas is easy to follow throughout the text. The use of referencing is generally clear, and the email maintains a consistent focus on the topic.

Lexical Resource — Band 7.0

You demonstrate a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey your message clearly. Phrases like 'undergraduate days', 'amenities', and 'academic performance' are used correctly. There are some minor issues with collocation and word choice, such as 'stable light supply' (which would be more naturally expressed as 'reliable electricity') and 'inspect the accommodation that the rooms are to your taste' (which is slightly awkward). However, these do not impede communication, and the vocabulary is adequate for the task.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 7.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are some minor grammatical errors, such as the punctuation in 'Congratulations my darling! on your admission', where the exclamation mark disrupts the sentence flow. Additionally, 'inspect the accommodation that the rooms are to your taste' is grammatically imprecise. However, the majority of your sentences are clear and error-free. The use of complex structures, such as 'The presence of those amenities made my stay... more convenient and made studying less stressful', shows a good level of control.

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