Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-21

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 Lakhwinder,

Congrats on your selection for your corse at the university. I'm extremely happy to hear that.

As you know I already done my graduation from same university, I'd like to suggest you a place to stay where I lived. This is a private boys hostel, just on the walking distance from the university, with very reasonable price. Also they provide 3 time meals in a day, So you don't need to worry about food as well.

The owner of the place also carrying a very nice personality, I am pretty sure you will not have any problem over there.

If you agree with this I will share you the contact number as well as the email address of the landlord, Therefore you can contact him. If you want to look other places as well then just find it on Facebook marketplace or try it on Kijiji. There you can see a number of listing of rented places along with pictures and details.

I suggest you to visit the place first and do a written rental agreement rather selecting it on online by just seeing the pictures. Most students, who are not doing these things, find trouble later.

My best wishes always with you for your bright future.

With love,

Kamal

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

You have successfully addressed all three bullet points in the prompt. You described your previous accommodation, recommended platforms like Facebook Marketplace and Kijiji, and provided a relevant warning about rental agreements. The tone is appropriate for a letter to a friend, and the purpose of the email is clear throughout. To improve, you could provide more specific detail in your description of the hostel to better develop your ideas, such as mentioning the proximity to specific campus buildings or the social atmosphere, which would help reach the higher band descriptors for idea development.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The email is logically organized with clear paragraphing. Each paragraph focuses on a specific aspect of the task, which helps the reader follow your advice easily. You use some cohesive devices like 'Also', 'Therefore', and 'If you agree', which help connect your ideas. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and the flow between sentences could be smoother. For example, the transition between the hostel description and the advice on finding other places could be improved with more sophisticated linking phrases to enhance the overall cohesion of the text.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for this task, using terms like 'reasonable price', 'rental agreement', and 'listing'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'carrying a very nice personality' (should be 'has a very nice personality') and 'doing these things' (should be 'taking these precautions'). While these errors do not impede communication, they limit your score. To reach a higher band, try to incorporate more precise collocations and avoid repetitive phrasing, such as using 'place' multiple times in close proximity.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, which is appropriate for this task. However, there are several grammatical errors that occur throughout the text, such as 'I already done' (should be 'I have already done'), 'on the walking distance' (should be 'within walking distance'), and 'selecting it on online' (should be 'selecting it online'). Additionally, there are minor punctuation and tense issues. While these errors rarely impede the overall meaning, they are frequent enough to prevent a higher score. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and correct preposition 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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