Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-07

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 6.0)

Dear Joshua,

It's been a while since we last spoke. I hope everything is going well. I am writing this letter in respond to give you the advice regarding the place where to live nearby university.

Firstly, Congratulations for getting accepted in the top university of Vancouver. When I was a student I use to reside nearby the campus. Also, it was very convenient for me to travel to my campus straight from my apartment. The transportation expense was totally eliminated which was the best part living alone in the city.

Just start exploring the pages on social media, they tend to put more advertisements. According to me, the best option would be to search for the one bedroom apartments on Market place. They usually post every other day and the prices are fair. All you need to do is select the category and locate within the radius which will be more convenient to you.

One thing I want you to be careful is about the scamming that is very normal when you will visit the apartment. Do not sign any contract before reading all the Claus and the details regarding the payment. The landlord something are very smart. Thus they try to fool the newly tenant. I hope all the details shall help you find the apartment effortlessly.

Looking forward for the positive response.

Best Wishes,

Ridhima

I hope you

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all three bullet points of the prompt effectively. You clearly described your past living situation, provided a practical recommendation for finding housing, and included a relevant warning about potential scams. The tone is appropriate for an email to a friend, maintaining a friendly and helpful persona throughout. The ideas are well-developed and relevant to the task requirements. To reach a higher band, ensure that the advice provided is slightly more detailed and that the transition between the different parts of the prompt is smoother.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The email is logically organized into clear paragraphs, each focusing on a specific requirement of the task. You use basic cohesive devices such as 'Firstly', 'Also', and 'Thus' to connect your ideas. However, some transitions feel a bit mechanical, and the flow between sentences could be improved by using a wider variety of linking words. For instance, the final sentence 'I hope you' at the end of the text is an incomplete fragment that disrupts the overall coherence. Ensure that all sentences are complete and contribute to the logical progression of your argument.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for this task, using terms like 'transportation expense', 'advertisements', and 'effortlessly'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'in respond to' (should be 'in response to'), 'scamming' (should be 'scams' or 'fraud'), and 'Claus' (should be 'clauses'). Additionally, 'the landlord something are very smart' is grammatically and lexically awkward. While your meaning is generally clear, more precise vocabulary would enhance the quality of your writing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent errors in grammar and punctuation that occasionally hinder the flow. Examples include 'Congratulations for getting accepted' (should be 'on getting accepted'), 'I use to reside' (should be 'I used to reside'), and 'newly tenant' (should be 'new tenant'). Subject-verb agreement and article usage are inconsistent throughout the text. While these errors do not prevent the reader from understanding your message, they are frequent enough to limit the score. Focusing on proofreading for basic tense and pluralization errors will help improve your accuracy.

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

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