Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-29

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 Govind,

I hope you are doing great. I'm writing this letter to tell you about the place where i lived for 2 years, while doing my graduation.

There is a building near to university named as Heritage apartments where i signed a lease for 2 years. They provided various facilities also such as designated parking spot, gym membership, regular cleaning services. Moreover, the bus stop and the supermarket is also behind the apartment building.

If you are looking for clean and quite place to rent these apartments are the best choice. But if you want to search more options i would recommend social platforms like marketplace or Instagram. People post ads about their homes or rooms which they want to rent.

One more advice i want to give, don't go for lease like more than 6 months or choosing the place which is far from the university.

Let me know if you need any help.

Lots of love.

Yogita.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response covers all three bullet points required by the prompt. You described your previous accommodation, suggested social media platforms for searching, and provided a warning about lease lengths and location. The tone is appropriate for an email to a friend. However, the development of ideas is somewhat brief. For instance, while you mention 'Heritage apartments', adding a bit more detail about the atmosphere or the specific benefits of the location would have made the advice more personal and helpful. The response meets the requirements of the task effectively, but could be improved by expanding on the reasoning behind your recommendations to provide a more comprehensive answer.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The email is logically organized, with each paragraph addressing a specific part of the prompt. You use basic cohesive devices such as 'Moreover', 'If', and 'But' to link ideas. However, the flow between sentences is sometimes a bit mechanical. For example, the transition between describing your apartment and recommending search methods could be smoother. Paragraphing is used correctly to separate the different points. To reach a higher band, try to use a wider variety of cohesive devices and ensure that referencing (e.g., 'these apartments') is consistently clear throughout the text.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You use a range of vocabulary appropriate for the context, such as 'lease', 'designated parking', and 'social platforms'. There are some minor inaccuracies, such as 'clean and quite place' (should be 'quiet') and 'do my graduation' (usually 'finish my degree' or 'complete my studies'). The vocabulary is sufficient to convey your meaning clearly, but it lacks the more sophisticated or idiomatic expressions that would characterize a higher band score. You rely on fairly common, everyday language, which is acceptable for a friendly email but limits the range demonstrated.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as 'near to university' (should be 'near the university'), 'the bus stop and the supermarket is' (subject-verb agreement: should be 'are'), and 'don't go for lease like more than 6 months' (awkward phrasing). While these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. To improve, focus on subject-verb agreement and more precise preposition usage. The punctuation is generally correct, though some sentence structures could be refined for better clarity.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.