Band 7.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-12

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 Manjot,

I hope you are doing well. I was delighted to hear that you have been offered a place at the same university where I studied. Congratulations! I'd be glad to give you some advice about accommodation.

When I was a student, I lived in a shared apartment about 15-min walk from the university. I had my own personal room, with shared common area and kitchen. The family with whom I was living with, were very friendly. Therefore, I enjoyed my accommodation without facing any inconvenience.

In my opinion, the best way to find accommodation is to contact university accommodation office. The contact is given on the university's website, and they would help you to find place according to your requirement in the university's residential building. Apart from that, you can find place by simply visiting marketplace app, where many people post their apartments on rent.

There are a few common mistakes you should avoid. Some students choose cheap room without checking the condition and location. Others forget to ask about additional cost such as electricity, internet and heating. You should also carefully read the rental agreement before signing it's all conditions.

I hope you find a comfortable and convenient place soon. Let me know if you need any more help.

Best wishes,

Hrameet

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.5

The response successfully addresses all three bullet points of the prompt. You described your past living situation, provided a clear recommendation for finding housing, and offered relevant warnings regarding common mistakes. The tone is appropriate for a letter to a friend, and the purpose of the email is clear throughout. The ideas are well-developed and relevant, meeting the requirements of the task effectively. To reach a higher band, you could provide slightly more detail or personal anecdotes regarding your experience to further extend the ideas.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The email is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs for each requirement, and a closing. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the different topics. You use cohesive devices such as 'Apart from that', 'Therefore', and 'In my opinion' to link ideas. However, the flow could be improved by using a wider variety of linking words and ensuring that referencing is always precise. Overall, the message is easy to follow, and the progression of ideas is logical.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

You demonstrate a sufficient range of vocabulary to communicate your ideas clearly. Phrases like 'shared common area' and 'rental agreement' are appropriate for the context. There are some minor inaccuracies, such as 'marketplace app' (should be 'a marketplace app') and 'on rent' (should be 'for rent'). While the vocabulary is functional and accurate enough for the task, incorporating more sophisticated collocations or idiomatic expressions would help elevate the score. The spelling is generally accurate throughout the text.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is always clear, there are some grammatical slips, such as 'The family with whom I was living with, were very friendly' (the second 'with' is redundant, and the subject-verb agreement is slightly off). Another example is 'signing it's all conditions', which should be 'signing and checking all its conditions'. Despite these occasional errors, your control of grammar is generally good, and the errors do not impede communication.

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

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