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 Dharvi,
I am writing this letter to give you an advice about the place you will choose for your stay while your studying.
To begin with, i am very happy to hear that you have been offered with the same course Regulatory Affairs at Northeastern University. It is a very good and reputed university across this area, and i am assuring you would like to study here. Moreover, when I was student i was living in the apartment called skyline which is situated in the Downtown, Toronto. I choose that place to live during my studies just because of my University, it's just a 3 minutes walk from that place to University.
Furthermore, I am recommending you the same to live in during your studies. As the library is situated in that area, everything is walkable in that area.
The main reason for writing this is that, please do not make this mistakes while choosing your accommodation, First, do not sign any lease papers before reading any thing and please take photographs and the things that you are agreed on. Secondly, do not choose basement if you are planning to live in Downtown, because in that there are so many spiders and lizards. Let me know if you need any further information regarding this matter.
Looking forward to see you here.
Kind Regards,
Shreya
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 7.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 6.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 6.0 |
| Overall | 6.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0
You have successfully addressed all three bullet points in the prompt. You described your past living situation, recommended a method for finding accommodation, and provided specific warnings about common mistakes. The tone is appropriate for an email to a friend, and the purpose of the letter is clear throughout. To improve, you could expand slightly on the 'best way' to look for accommodation; while you mention the area, you could suggest specific resources like university housing portals or local rental websites to make your advice more practical and fully developed.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5
The email is logically organized with a clear opening and closing. You use some cohesive devices such as 'To begin with,' 'Moreover,' and 'Furthermore' to transition between ideas. However, the paragraphing is a bit clumped; the advice regarding mistakes should ideally be separated into its own paragraph to improve readability. Additionally, some referencing is slightly mechanical, and the flow between the recommendation and the warning could be smoother. Overall, the message is easy to follow, but more varied linking words would enhance the cohesion.
Lexical Resource — Band 6.0
You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for this task, using terms like 'reputed,' 'accommodation,' and 'situated.' There are some minor errors in word choice, such as 'offered with' (should be 'offered a place on') and 'the things that you are agreed on' (should be 'the things you have agreed upon'). While the vocabulary is sufficient to convey your meaning clearly, it lacks the precision and flexibility required for higher bands. Incorporating more natural collocations would strengthen your writing.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0
You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. However, there are several grammatical inaccuracies, such as 'give you an advice' (advice is uncountable), 'when I was student' (missing article 'a'), and 'do not make this mistakes' (should be 'these mistakes'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with comma usage and capitalization of 'i'. While these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and article usage will help improve your accuracy.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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