Band 7.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-04

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 Ron,

Thanks for reaching out, It's delightful to hear from you after such a long time, I'de presume it's been about 6 months. I'm incredibly happy to see you finally take a step to advance your skills and deciding to enroll in the University I attended. I would say computer science would be demanding but with the skillsets you hold, you'll crack it through.

Since you already got admission, your biggest hurdle will be accomodation - don't stress out, I'll lead you the way. I've got serious connections still at the university, and I believe the university's accomodation is the best to go for, since it would be cost effective and within the visinity of the university. I spent 2 years there and it was fun and lively staying with other students.

The best approach to secure a room there would be to contact the student services to allocate you one attached to your student ID; this will ensure you are entitled for on-campus discounts.

Something I must warn you about is that the campus have strict meal timing, so you need to be punctual to pick your meal, otherwise you may need to purchase it from the canteen at a cost.

Having said that, feel free to buzz me whenever you need any information or assistance and I'll be happy to sort you.

I'll leave it there for now and talk to you soon, Take care!

Warm regards,

Richard.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 8.0

You have successfully addressed all three bullet points in the prompt. You described your past living situation, recommended a specific method for finding accommodation (contacting student services), and provided a relevant warning regarding meal timings. The tone is appropriate for a letter to a friend, maintaining a friendly and helpful persona throughout. The ideas are well-developed and relevant to the task requirements. To reach a higher band, ensure that the advice provided is slightly more detailed or nuanced, but overall, you have fully satisfied the requirements of the task.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 8.0

The email is logically organized, with a clear progression from the opening pleasantries to the specific advice requested. Paragraphing is used effectively to separate the different points of the letter. You use a range of cohesive devices such as 'Since you already', 'The best approach', and 'Having said that' to link your ideas. The flow of information is smooth, and the relationship between sentences is clear. There are no significant issues with referencing or paragraph structure, making the text easy to follow.

Lexical Resource — Band 7.0

You demonstrate a good range of vocabulary appropriate for an informal email, such as 'delightful', 'demanding', 'hurdle', and 'punctual'. There are a few minor spelling errors, such as 'I'de' (I'd), 'accomodation' (accommodation), and 'visinity' (vicinity). While these do not impede communication, they prevent the response from reaching the highest band. The use of idiomatic expressions like 'crack it through' and 'buzz me' fits the informal register well. Focusing on accurate spelling of common academic and housing-related terms will help improve your score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 7.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures effectively. There are some minor punctuation errors, such as comma splices in the opening paragraph ('...long time, I'de presume...'). Additionally, there is a subject-verb agreement error in 'the campus have strict meal timing' (should be 'has'). Despite these occasional slips, the majority of your sentences are error-free, and your meaning is always clear. You show good control over complex structures, which supports a solid band score in this criterion.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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