Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)

Dear Sam,

I hope this email finds you in randiant health. First of all, congratulation for getting the addmission in the same university as mine. I am writting this email to suggest you the ways to search for accomodation.

I used to live nearby the university area. I just had to take local bus for five minutes and during summer season i could walk to the destination. It was one bedroom house and we 2 people were living there so that rent can be divided and we could save some money.

Before two months of starting of the course contact the student union via email or call and they will give you the list of available rooms in the university hostel. Additionally join the local area group on facebook where owners post their rental places. Moreover, I would recommed you to not rent a private room beacuse having a roommate is blessing at unknown place and make sure you sign a lease and do not give deposite money. Many students got scammed like this.

Whishing you luck for your new course.

Yours lovingly,

Pam

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

You have addressed all three bullet points required by the task: 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 student union and Facebook groups, the advice could be more detailed to fully meet the 'well-developed' criteria of higher bands. The warning about scams is relevant, but the advice to 'not give deposit money' is slightly confusing, as deposits are standard in legitimate rentals; clarifying this as 'not giving money before viewing' would have been more effective.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The email follows a logical progression, moving from the greeting to the description of your past living situation, followed by advice and warnings. Paragraphing is used to separate these ideas, which helps the reader follow your points. You use some cohesive devices like 'Additionally', 'Moreover', and 'First of all' to link your sentences. However, the flow is occasionally interrupted by minor mechanical errors in sentence structure, and some transitions feel slightly repetitive. Overall, the message is easy to follow, and the structure is appropriate for a semi-formal email.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, such as 'accommodation', 'rental places', and 'scammed'. There are several spelling errors, such as 'randiant', 'congratulation' (should be plural), 'addmission', 'writting', 'accomodation', 'recommed', 'beacuse', 'deposite', and 'Whishing'. While these errors do not impede communication, they are frequent enough to suggest a lack of control over common spelling patterns. To reach a higher band, you should focus on accuracy in spelling and attempt to use more precise collocations, such as 'securing a lease' rather than just 'sign a lease'.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as 'I used to live nearby the university area' and 'I would recommend you to not rent a private room because having a roommate is a blessing'. There are several grammatical slips, including article usage ('the university area', 'a blessing at an unknown place'), missing prepositions, and tense inconsistencies. For instance, 'we 2 people were living there' is slightly unnatural; 'two of us lived there' would be better. While these errors are noticeable, they do not prevent the reader from understanding your message.

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

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