Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

Dear Ahmet,

Firstly congragulations about your success. I would love to tell you my experiences about that region.

In my first years at university, I didn’t have any car. Thats why I try to live close to the universty. Because of the weather it can be so tiring for walk to the universty at hot seasons. The city is not good at public transport. In that region everybody has a car to use their daily life. You can check some private dorms in the south side of universty first. I can recommend you that firstly, because there is no stable market for rental places. I don’t want you to waste your money. If you dont like that I have some local friends in the city. Let me know about your plan and tell me when you need them. They can help you and make you save money in your unexperienced times.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses all three bullet points: describing your past living situation, recommending a way to find accommodation, and warning about mistakes. However, the development of these points is somewhat limited. For instance, the warning about mistakes is vague; you mention there is 'no stable market' but do not clearly explain what specific mistakes students should avoid, such as signing contracts without viewing properties or ignoring hidden costs. To reach a higher band, ensure that your advice is more specific and fully developed to provide a comprehensive answer to your friend.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The email is logically organized, with a clear progression from your experience to recommendations and warnings. You use some cohesive devices, such as 'Firstly', 'That's why', and 'Because of', which help the flow. However, the paragraphing is insufficient; the entire body of the email is contained in one block. Breaking the text into distinct paragraphs for each bullet point would significantly improve the structure and readability. Additionally, some transitions feel a bit mechanical, and the connection between sentences could be smoother to enhance the overall coherence.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks variety and precision. You rely on basic terms like 'good', 'help', and 'money'. There are also some minor errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'congragulations about your success' (should be 'on your success') and 'unexperienced times' (which is not standard English; 'inexperienced' is the correct adjective, though it doesn't fit the context well). To improve, try to incorporate more natural collocations and a wider range of vocabulary related to housing and student life.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

There is a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but the accuracy is inconsistent. You have several grammatical errors, such as 'I didn’t have any car' (should be 'a car'), 'tiring for walk' (should be 'tiring to walk'), and 'If you dont like that I have some local friends' (missing punctuation). Additionally, there are spelling errors like 'congragulations' and 'universty'. While these errors do not prevent the reader from understanding your message, they occur frequently enough to impact the overall fluency and accuracy of the writing.

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

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