Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-24

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 Malhar,

I hope you are doing good. I am glad and happy to hear that your offer has been accepted from York University were I done my studies. I am listing down my suggestions on accommodation near university.

I enrolled for studies on year 2023 in York University, at that time it was very difficult to find the place near university. Because lot of students enrolled in that year and they all came from different cities and countries. I got the 1 small room in 2BHK condo unit which was 10 minutes walking distance from university. I paid little bit more because other roommate was vegetarian.

I would recommend you to apply in advance on university affiliated townhouse or condo. One of my friend used to stay there at the time of studies. He found very reasonable in price and in addition to that it was right behind the university. If you are looking for vegetarian housemate then you should specific mentioned at the time of apply. Don't forget to mention that otherwise once it will be final, it would not be possible to change the housemate.

Hope so you will get the best one with reasonable price near university. Let me know once you find it and will meet you soon.

Your Faithfully,

Charmi Doshi.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

You have addressed all three bullet points of the task: describing your past accommodation, recommending a search method, and warning about potential mistakes. The tone is appropriate for an email to a friend. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, the advice regarding the 'vegetarian housemate' is a bit confusing and could have been explained more clearly to ensure the reader understands the specific risk involved. To reach a higher band, ensure that your advice is practical and fully explained so the reader can easily follow your logic.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The email is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a closing. You use some cohesive devices, such as 'In addition to that' and 'Because', to link ideas. However, some transitions are a bit mechanical or slightly awkward, such as 'I am listing down my suggestions'. The paragraphing is appropriate for the task, but the flow between sentences could be improved by using a wider variety of linking words to create a more natural progression of ideas.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You have a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey your message clearly. You use some relevant terms like 'affiliated', 'accommodation', and 'condo unit'. However, there are some errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'I done my studies' (should be 'I did' or 'I completed') and 'specific mentioned' (should be 'specifically mention'). These errors do not impede communication, but they do limit the precision of your writing. Expanding your vocabulary to include more natural collocations would improve your score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors throughout the text, such as 'I hope you are doing good' (should be 'well'), 'on year 2023' (should be 'in'), and 'once it will be final' (should be 'once it is finalized'). While these errors are frequent, they rarely impede the reader's understanding of your message. To improve, focus on verb tense consistency and the correct use of prepositions, as these are recurring issues in your writing.

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

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