Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-03

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 6.0)

Dear Mike,

Congratulations on your merit admission given to you by my alma mata university in the school of science to study micro biology. I recently graduated from the department last year August and it's a very good course one can study. Despite how stressful it is. It's one course which will be more beneficial to the society and have a greater chances of a getting a good payable job once you graduates with good grades. The lecturers and academic staffs are friendly and are open to attend to any questions concerning academics or personal challenges like accommodation or harassment.

Speaking about accommodation. It's one of the basic challenges been faced by new entries in the school. Due to the less number of hostels in the school campus which are mainly reserved for people who are indigenes of the state the school is situated in, many students seeks alternative means by getting accommodation outside the school environment. To get an apartment, i will advice you to avoid any notification or adverts pasted on the school building and fence notifying one about vacancy in some ofthe off campus hostels.Most of these adverts are scammers who will collect your money and still fails to give you a room in any of the said hostels rather i recommend you meet the school welfare officer Mr Ben, who has all the names of registered house agents who are working under the school. He will then give you names of available hostels and their agents and also give you the address for inspection. Once , you like the place you can now make your payment and move in happily.

I hope my little advice pays positive way for you. I will be open to attend and give you advice on any issues you might have in the course of your study.

GOOD LUCK!

Yours faithfully,

Osinachi.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

You have addressed all three bullet points of the task: describing your past living situation, recommending a search method, and warning against common mistakes. However, the first bullet point is not fully addressed; you mention the university environment generally but fail to explicitly describe where you lived as a student (e.g., a specific hall of residence or a shared house). The tone is appropriate for a letter to a friend, though the opening is slightly formal for the context. To improve, ensure each bullet point is given equal weight and specific detail to fully satisfy the prompt requirements.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The email is organized into logical paragraphs, which helps the reader follow your points. You use some cohesive devices, such as 'Speaking about accommodation' and 'To get an apartment', to transition between ideas. However, some transitions are mechanical or slightly awkward, such as 'Once , you like the place you can now make your payment'. Additionally, the use of referencing is occasionally unclear, and some sentences are fragmented, which disrupts the flow. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring smoother transitions between sentences would enhance the overall coherence of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'merit admission', 'indigenes', and 'inspection'. However, there are several instances of awkward word choice and collocation errors, such as 'payable job' instead of 'well-paid job', 'less number of hostels' instead of 'fewer hostels', and 'my little advice pays positive way' which is non-idiomatic. While these errors do not prevent the reader from understanding your message, they limit the precision of your expression. Expanding your vocabulary to include more natural collocations and idiomatic expressions would help you achieve a higher band score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text. Issues include subject-verb agreement ('many students seeks'), incorrect verb forms ('still fails to give', 'once you graduates'), and punctuation errors, such as unnecessary full stops within sentences ('Despite how stressful it is. It's one course...'). These errors are noticeable and occasionally distract the reader, though they do not impede overall communication. To improve, focus on proofreading for basic subject-verb agreement and ensuring that complex sentences are punctuated correctly to maintain grammatical accuracy.

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