Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-05

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 Cane,

First of all, let me congratulate you on your brilliant success in gaining admission to a great university where I studied as well. I would also thank you for having confidence in my advice in finding accommodation for you.

Of course, the best way to find accommodation at university is to go over the daily newspaper classified section where local residents post advertisements to rent out their flats to students. Additionally you can check student union boards where students post frequent adds to either find roommates or share their flats.

By the way , you can also live in those single room apartments on Jinnah avenue where I used to live during my studies. These single apartments are bit pricey but would probably like it because of their calm and nice environment.

But ,whatever you chose for your self to reside, please make sure that the flat or house you decide to rent should have central heating system, As it gets cold in winters.

Wishing you all the best.

Yours lovingly,

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses all three bullet points of the task. You described your previous accommodation on Jinnah Avenue, recommended checking newspapers and student union boards, and provided a warning regarding central heating. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, the warning about mistakes is quite brief and could have been expanded to better address the prompt's requirement to warn of 'mistakes students make' (plural). While the tone is appropriate for a friend, the content is functional rather than fully developed, which prevents it from reaching the higher bands.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The email is organized into clear paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the progression of ideas. You use some cohesive devices such as 'First of all', 'Additionally', and 'By the way' to link your points. However, the transition between the advice and the warning is a bit abrupt. The use of referencing is generally clear, though some sentences feel slightly disjointed due to punctuation errors, such as the space before the comma in 'By the way ,'. Overall, the logical flow is sufficient for the task.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'admission', 'classified section', and 'accommodation'. There are some minor errors in word choice and spelling, such as 'adds' instead of 'ads' and 'chose' instead of 'choose'. While you attempt to use some descriptive language ('calm and nice environment'), the vocabulary remains fairly standard. To improve, try to incorporate more precise collocations and ensure spelling accuracy, as these small slips slightly detract from the overall quality of the writing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as the conditional 'whatever you chose... please make sure'. However, there are several grammatical inaccuracies, including missing articles ('the daily newspaper', 'the central heating system') and minor punctuation errors, such as the unnecessary space before commas. Subject-verb agreement is generally maintained, but the sentence 'These single apartments are bit pricey' is missing an article. While these errors do not impede communication, they are frequent enough to prevent a higher score.

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

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