Band 7.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-01

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 7.0)

Hi John,

I hope you are doing good. I really happy that you got admission in the university where I used to study before. I know it is hard to find suitable accommodation, but I could give you some advice about finding place to live.

Firstly, I used to live in an apartment with my friends which is very closer to the college. I think it is a better idea to save money on transportation. Moreover, you will get information about available places from college news board. Those who are looking for a partner to share the room, usually put paper advertisements on that board.

There is an important thing which I have to tell you about the fraud agencies. Many students have got cheat by such people. So, it is always better to seek advice from your college associates and they are very friendly to us. If you need any help or advice do not hesitate to ask me.

Wishing you all the very best for your career.

Yours faithfully,

Emmanuel

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

You have addressed all three bullet points in the prompt: describing your past accommodation, recommending a search method, and warning about potential pitfalls. The tone is appropriate for an email to a friend. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. For example, while you mention the college notice board, you could have expanded on why this is effective or mentioned other modern alternatives like student housing websites. The warning about fraud is relevant, but could be more specific to help your friend avoid these situations effectively. Overall, the task is fulfilled, but more detail would elevate the response.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The email is logically organized, with each paragraph focusing on one of the required points. You use basic cohesive devices such as 'Firstly', 'Moreover', and 'So' to connect your ideas. However, the flow between sentences is sometimes a bit mechanical. The transition between the advice about the notice board and the warning about fraud is abrupt. To improve, try using a wider variety of linking words or phrases to create a smoother progression of ideas. Paragraphing is used correctly, which helps the reader follow your structure easily.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for this task, using words like 'accommodation', 'transportation', and 'advertisements' correctly. There are some minor errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'got admission in' (should be 'got admission to') and 'got cheat' (should be 'been cheated'). While these errors do not impede communication, they indicate a need for more precision. To reach a higher band, try to incorporate more natural collocations and idiomatic expressions suitable for an informal email to a friend.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. However, there are several grammatical inaccuracies throughout the text. For instance, 'I really happy' is missing a verb ('I am really happy'), and 'which is very closer' is grammatically incorrect ('which is very close'). Additionally, 'they are very friendly to us' is slightly awkward in this context. While these errors are noticeable, they do not prevent the reader from understanding your message. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and the correct use of adjectives/adverbs will help improve your accuracy.

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