Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-15

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 Harpreet,

I hope you are well. I am writing this letter to offer you my advise regarding how you can find a suitable accommodation for you.

First of all, congratulations for being accepted in the university program, as you might know that these days it is hard to get a place in a well known institution. When I was doing this program, I lived in a shared apartment at South Park Street. We were three girls in the house. Other two girls were working professionals. I had find this place online.

I would suggest you to check on the Facebook marketplace for a suitable accommodation according to your preferences. There are a number of listings, you can contact them and request for a viewing date.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response fails to address all parts of the task. While you describe where you lived and recommend a way to find accommodation, you completely omit the third bullet point regarding a warning about mistakes students make. Furthermore, the response is significantly under the 150-word minimum requirement, which negatively impacts the development of your ideas. To improve, ensure you cover every bullet point in the prompt and expand on your points with more detail to meet the length requirement.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The email is generally easy to follow, and the progression of ideas is logical. You use basic cohesive devices such as 'First of all' and 'When I was', which help the flow. However, the paragraphing is insufficient; the text is presented as a series of short, somewhat disconnected blocks. To achieve a higher band, you should use a wider range of linking words and ensure your paragraphs are clearly structured to separate the different points requested in the prompt.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks variety and precision. You use common phrases like 'well known institution' and 'suitable accommodation'. There are some minor errors in word choice, such as 'advise' (which should be the noun 'advice') and 'had find' (which is grammatically incorrect). To improve, try to incorporate more specific vocabulary related to housing and university life, and ensure you distinguish between nouns and verbs correctly.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are several grammatical errors that detract from the quality. For example, 'congratulations for being accepted in' should be 'congratulations on being accepted to', and 'I had find' is an incorrect verb tense. Additionally, 'Other two girls' requires an article ('The other two girls'). While these errors do not completely impede communication, they occur frequently enough to limit your score. Focus on verb tense consistency and article usage.

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

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