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 Sara!

I hope you are doing well. I am also fine and happy to heard you after long time. I am glad to hear about you got admission your dream university. As this university have good rank in the country. Getting admission in this course is a dream of everyone who want to learn about behaviour psychology. You asked about the nearby place where you live and attend the university. When I got admission in that course I searched lot of hostels for living and found a Lahore girls hostel in township was a best place for me. I recommend you the same hostel due to my good experience. The hostel is very close to university, having good reputation in the town. The rooms are in good condition. If you need Air Conditioner. They will assign you the same room. There are common room, prayer room, and dining hall with full appliances. But some steps you will take carefully like you just pay your monthly fees, don't pay extra fees such as registration fee or advance payments. I hope these informations are helpful for you.

Thanks a lot

Your Friend

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response covers all three bullet points required by the prompt: describing your previous accommodation, recommending a way to find housing, and warning about common mistakes. The ideas are relevant and clearly presented. However, the development of these points is somewhat basic. For instance, the warning about fees is quite brief and could have been expanded with more specific advice or personal anecdotes to better fulfill the 'fully developed' requirement of higher bands. Nevertheless, the tone is appropriate for an email to a friend, and the purpose of the communication is clear throughout.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The email is generally coherent, and the progression of ideas is logical. You move from the greeting to your personal experience, then to recommendations, and finally to warnings. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat limited and occasionally mechanical. There is a lack of varied linking words to connect sentences more fluidly. Furthermore, the paragraphing is absent; the entire response is written as a single block of text. To improve, you should use clear paragraph breaks to separate the different sections of your email, which would significantly enhance the overall structure and readability.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, such as 'admission', 'reputation', and 'appliances'. However, there are several instances of awkward phrasing and word choice errors, such as 'happy to heard you' (should be 'happy to hear from you') and 'As this university have good rank' (should be 'has a good ranking'). Additionally, the phrase 'some steps you will take carefully' is slightly unnatural. While these errors do not impede communication, they indicate a need for more precise control over collocations and grammatical word forms to reach a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response relies heavily on simple sentence structures. While there are some attempts at complex sentences, they often contain grammatical errors, such as 'Getting admission in this course is a dream of everyone who want to learn' (subject-verb agreement error: 'wants'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with sentence fragments like 'If you need Air Conditioner.' and 'The hostel is very close to university, having good reputation in the town.' These errors are frequent enough to be noticeable, though they do not prevent the reader from understanding your message. Increasing your use of varied, error-free complex structures is essential for improvement.

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

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