Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-06

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 John,

I would like to congratulate you for securing a place in one of the reputed university. I am very happy with your achievement.

As you know that I have spent three years in same university and I used to stay in university hostel. Therefore, my recommendation is to apply for hostel first from their website, and get all the updates on your email address. Even, you would be able to see 3D view of various rooms with all the provided facilities. Also, you can join different WhatsApp groups where students post available vacant rooms.

Make sure while choosing the place that all the roommates should be from the same course, otherwise, it will be conflicts in the timings. Also, try to negotiate with rent because owners ask for high rents initially.

I hope you will get a good place to live and I would like to give my best wishes for your new phase of life.

Yours lovingly,

Muskan Garg

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

You have successfully addressed all three bullet points in the prompt. You described your experience in the university hostel, provided a clear recommendation for finding accommodation, and included a relevant warning about roommates and rent negotiations. The tone is appropriate for an email to a friend, and the purpose of the letter is clear throughout. To improve, you could expand slightly on the 'warning' section to provide more specific detail or a personal anecdote, which would help to fully develop your ideas and reach a higher band score.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The email is logically organized with a clear progression of ideas. Each paragraph focuses on a specific aspect of the task, which helps the reader follow your advice easily. You use some cohesive devices such as 'Therefore', 'Also', and 'Even', though some transitions feel slightly mechanical. The paragraphing is appropriate for an informal letter. To improve, try to vary your linking words and ensure that the connection between sentences feels more natural rather than relying on simple additive connectors like 'Also' at the start of multiple sentences.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'securing a place', 'reputed university', and 'negotiate'. However, there are some minor inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'in same university' (should be 'the same university') and 'it will be conflicts' (should be 'there will be conflicts'). While these errors do not impede communication, they prevent the response from reaching a higher band. Focus on learning common collocations to make your writing sound more natural and precise.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as 'Make sure while choosing the place that all the roommates should be from the same course'. There are some grammatical errors, such as 'in one of the reputed university' (should be 'universities') and 'apply for hostel first from their website' (should be 'apply for a hostel place'). Despite these errors, the meaning is always clear. To improve, pay closer attention to articles (a/the) and subject-verb agreement, and try to incorporate a wider variety of complex sentence forms to demonstrate greater control.

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

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