Band 7.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.0 · 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 7.0)

Dear Cassie.

I hope you are doing fine?

Congratulations on achieving this great milestone. I am so proud of you and excited that you would be attending the same university i attended to study the same course. I can assure you that this is a decision you will never regret.

I want to give you a few advise to help sort out your accommodation before you travel down to school. I stay in the housing provided by the school throughout my school years and i only have amazing things to say about Wellsprings hostel which was my building. Firstly, the rooms are spacious, with 2 large windows, you get a bathroom to yourself and you get to pick your roommate so you could go with a friend to the student housing office and request to stay together.

However, i heard there are a lot of good off campus housings if you do not get a room in wellsprings. The best way to get one is also by asking at the student housing desk in the administrative building. I really do hope you get a good place.

Meanwhile, make sure you consider things like distance to school and availability of regular wifi before making your deposit if you are getting accommodation off campus because many students tend to ignore these factors.

I wish you all the best and hope you enjoy yourself.

Much love,

Favour.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.5

The response successfully addresses all three bullet points of the prompt. You described your experience at Wellsprings hostel, recommended the student housing office as the best way to find accommodation, and provided a warning regarding distance and Wi-Fi. The tone is appropriate for an email to a friend, and the purpose is clear throughout. To reach a higher band, ensure that the advice provided is slightly more detailed; for instance, you could have expanded on why specific mistakes are common or provided more context on the off-campus housing market. Overall, the task requirements are fully met.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The email is logically organized with clear paragraphing. Each paragraph focuses on a specific aspect of the prompt, which helps the reader follow your ideas easily. You use some cohesive devices such as 'Firstly', 'However', and 'Meanwhile' to transition between points. While the flow is generally good, some transitions feel slightly mechanical. To improve, try to vary your linking words and ensure that the connection between sentences is more fluid. The use of referencing (e.g., 'these factors') is effective in maintaining the logical progression of your argument.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for this task, using terms like 'milestone', 'administrative building', and 'accommodation'. However, there are some minor inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'travel down to school' (which is slightly informal/colloquial) and 'I stay in the housing' (which should be past tense, 'I stayed'). To reach a higher band, aim to incorporate more precise vocabulary related to housing and university life, and ensure that your word forms are consistently accurate throughout the text.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, which is appropriate for this task. However, there are several grammatical errors that persist, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('I stay' instead of 'I stayed'), inconsistent tense usage, and minor punctuation errors (e.g., 'i' should be capitalized as 'I'). Additionally, there is a minor error in the phrase 'a few advise', which should be 'a few pieces of advice'. While these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. Focusing on proofreading for tense consistency and capitalization would be beneficial.

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

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