Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-19

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 Limy,

I’m extremely delighted to hear that you have been offered a course at University of Toronto. Since you asked I’m really happy to share my experience about the accommodation.

I lived in a shared room with two other students, which was approximately 20 minutes away from the university campus. Looking stays near to the campus fetches several benefits like reduce the travel time and cost, another advantage you can spend sometime with others students to build strong connections, which would be helpful during the group projects.

About the accommodation, it is always best to contact the real estate agents, who might charge few bucks to get good and affordable rooms. Moreover, you can also check with the office and face market they always have bundle of properties for the best locations and price.

Finally, I would like to warn you about a few things which most of the students overlook. Firstly, don’t sign agreement without reading because this includes unnecessary money to pay. Secondly, visiting the property physical is highly recommend since pictures are always edited.

I hope you will find the best stay.

Warm regards,

Anjali

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

You have addressed all three bullet points of the task effectively. You described your past living situation, provided a clear recommendation for finding accommodation, and offered relevant warnings regarding rental agreements and property inspections. The tone is appropriate for an email to a friend, and the purpose of the letter is clear throughout. To reach a higher band, ensure that your advice is slightly more detailed; for instance, explaining why certain mistakes are common would add depth to your response. Overall, the task is fully addressed with a consistent and helpful tone.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The email is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs for each bullet point, and a closing. You use transition signals such as 'About the accommodation', 'Moreover', and 'Finally' to guide the reader through your points. However, some cohesive devices are slightly mechanical or misused, such as 'face market' which is unclear in context. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the different requirements of the prompt. To improve, focus on using a wider variety of linking words and ensuring that referencing between sentences is always precise and natural.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'accommodation', 'campus', and 'agreements' correctly. There are some instances of awkward phrasing or non-standard collocations, such as 'face market' and 'get good and affordable rooms' (which is a bit informal). Additionally, 'few bucks' is quite colloquial. While these errors do not impede communication, they limit the precision of your writing. To improve, try to incorporate more precise academic or formal vocabulary that still fits the semi-formal tone of an email to a friend.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical slips, such as 'Looking stays near to the campus fetches' (should be 'Looking for stays' or 'Living near'), 'spend sometime' (should be 'some time'), and 'visiting the property physical' (should be 'physically'). Despite these errors, the meaning remains clear throughout the email. To reach a higher band, focus on subject-verb agreement and the correct use of adverbs versus adjectives. Increasing the frequency of error-free complex sentences will also help improve your score in this criterion.

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

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