Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

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

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 am writing this letter to provide my advice regarding the selection of accommodation at the university campus.

I am glad that you have been selected for the course at the university where I studied. I experienced a number of challenges in searching better location to live. I lived at multiple places. From all those, I feel accommodation at the university campus is much smoother, safer and relaxed rather than searching for private options.

The best way to look for accommodation is the university website. Even I was not known familiar with it in my earlier days. One of my friend suggested me to use this premium service. This website provides information about the number of empty rooms, private and shared rooms along with their charges.

Importantly, try to avoid mistakes that students usually do such as ignoring transportation access to the location where they decide to live. Students generally attracted by the economical charges but safety should be the priority.

I hope you will consider my advice and best wishes for your new journey!

Best regards,

A

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 living on campus, recommended the university website as a resource, and provided a relevant warning regarding transportation and safety. The tone is appropriate for a letter to a friend, and the purpose of the email is clear from the beginning. To reach a higher band, you could expand slightly more on your personal experience—for example, by describing a specific aspect of the campus life you enjoyed—to ensure the ideas are fully developed rather than just mentioned.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The email is logically organized, with each paragraph focusing on a specific requirement of the task. You use some cohesive devices, such as 'Importantly' and 'such as', to link ideas. However, the flow between sentences could be improved. Some transitions feel a bit mechanical, and the connection between the introduction and the body paragraphs could be smoother. Using a wider variety of linking words or phrases would help the text progress more naturally. Overall, the paragraphing is appropriate and the message is easy to follow.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using words like 'accommodation', 'economical', and 'priority' correctly. There are some minor inaccuracies in word choice, such as 'I was not known familiar with it', which should be 'I was not familiar with it'. Additionally, 'searching better location' requires an article ('a better location'). While you successfully convey your meaning, the vocabulary is somewhat functional. To improve, try to incorporate more descriptive adjectives or idiomatic expressions that would naturally occur in a friendly email.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is always clear, there are several grammatical errors. For instance, 'One of my friend suggested me' should be 'One of my friends suggested to me', and 'Students generally attracted' is missing the auxiliary verb 'are'. There are also minor issues with preposition usage and article omission. Despite these errors, they do not impede communication. To achieve a higher score, focus on subject-verb agreement and ensuring that passive constructions are formed correctly.

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

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