Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-22

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 6.0)

Dear Ravi,

How was your trip to Vancouver? I am writing this e-mail to suggest you not only the best accommodation possible but also avoid some common mistake that student does as a tenant.

To begin with, I am very glad that you accepted the offer f an engineering course in my college. I was very fortunate, in terms of, place for living, I stayed in house referred by my senior.

Now, if you start browsing on facebook marketplace, you will get the list of locations sorted by house, apartment with price range. Moreover, landlords specify the amount of facility that a would be tenant expect. Furthermore, never get caught in in trap of lucrative university offered hostels, it has very expensive budget for a student to afford, yet very limited perks.

In the end, I hope you will enjoy your stay in the Hamilton city, till your course completion in university.

Yours Lovingly,

Meet Patel

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all three bullet points required by the prompt. You described your past living situation, recommended Facebook Marketplace, and warned against university hostels. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, the advice regarding the 'mistake' of choosing university accommodation is a bit vague, and the explanation of why it is a mistake could be more detailed to fully satisfy the task requirements. The tone is appropriate for an email to a friend, though the opening sentence is slightly awkward and does not quite fit the context of the prompt.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The email is organized into logical paragraphs, which helps the reader follow your points. You use some cohesive devices such as 'To begin with', 'Moreover', and 'Furthermore' to link your ideas. However, the flow between sentences is occasionally mechanical, and some transitions feel slightly forced. The referencing is generally clear, but the overall structure could be improved by ensuring that each paragraph has a more cohesive internal logic. The closing is standard for an informal letter, though the transition to the conclusion is a bit abrupt.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'lucrative', 'tenant', and 'accommodation'. However, there are some noticeable errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'amount of facility' (which should be 'amenities') and 'in trap of' (which should be 'in the trap of'). Additionally, there are minor spelling and grammatical slips, such as 'f' instead of 'of' and 'Hamilton city' (which is usually just 'Hamilton'). While these errors do not impede communication, they prevent the response from reaching a higher band score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While you attempt to use complex sentences, there are frequent grammatical errors, such as 'suggest you not only... but also avoid' (parallelism error), 'some common mistake that student does' (subject-verb agreement and pluralization errors), and 'it has very expensive budget' (article usage). Punctuation is generally functional, but there are some awkward phrasings that affect the natural flow of the text. The errors are frequent enough to be noticeable but do not prevent the reader from understanding your message.

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

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