Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-25

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 Hashan,

I hope you are doing well, I just want to tell you that I used to live in delta, Surrey. when I was a university student, that was a very peaceful city to live, not only that much crowded but also a good view. I would like you to recommend that the accommodation you wondering to live should be centre in the city because there are a lot of grocery shops which help to do groceries, it’s a main part of live and the transportation is very good in nearby places. Furthermore, there are number of mistakes that students did when they find an accommodation, firstly they do not look up the places when they decided to live, and never talk with the landowners. It is a first must thing which people have to look. So, in case when you are moving one place to another owners never give deposit to them.

Thanks

Your friend,

Komal

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

You have addressed all three bullet points in the prompt: describing your past accommodation, recommending a location, and warning about common mistakes. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, the advice on avoiding mistakes is a bit unclear, particularly the sentence regarding the deposit, which makes it difficult for the reader to fully grasp the specific warning you intended to convey. To improve, ensure that your explanations are more detailed and logically connected to the advice you are providing. The tone is appropriate for an email to a friend, but the overall structure could be more clearly defined with distinct paragraphs for each point.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The email is generally coherent, and the progression of ideas is easy to follow. You use some basic cohesive devices like 'Furthermore' and 'firstly' to link your points. However, the paragraphing is insufficient; the entire body of the email is written as one block, which makes it harder to navigate. Using separate paragraphs for each bullet point would significantly improve the structure. Additionally, some referencing is slightly unclear, such as the phrase 'it’s a main part of live', where the connection to the previous idea could be smoother. Improving your use of paragraphing and transition words will help elevate your score.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

Your vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing you to communicate your ideas clearly. You use some relevant terms like 'accommodation', 'transportation', and 'landowners'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'not only that much crowded' and 'do groceries', which sound unnatural. You also use 'live' instead of the noun 'life'. To reach a higher band, try to incorporate more precise collocations and ensure that word forms are used correctly. Expanding your range of descriptive adjectives and adverbs would also help make your writing more engaging and natural.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede the flow of reading. For example, 'the accommodation you wondering to live should be centre in the city' contains errors in verb tense and preposition usage. There are also issues with subject-verb agreement and article usage, such as 'It is a first must thing'. While your meaning is generally clear, these persistent errors in basic grammar and sentence construction prevent a higher score. Focusing on proofreading for subject-verb agreement and correct verb forms will help improve your accuracy.

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

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