Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-03

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 5.5)

Dear Adit Raj,

I am doing well, I hope you are doing great. I would like to give an information about accommodation in Hyderabad.

I completed my graduation cousre in 2020 at Dr. NTR University, Hyderabad.I lived in Durgabai Deshmukh hostel near by the University. I had been living there for 7 years before I graduated in Bachelor of Physiotherapy.

I highly recommend this hostel as it was a excellent amenities such as well infrastructure rooms, library, play ground, huge kitchen, refrigerator, and washing machine. Which is the best place to accommodation for students

I would like to share my experience in the hostel, I had a lot of joyful memories with this hostel, while many students were keep rooms unitdy. They are a plethora of rules in hostel, always keep things neatly, particulary do not bring non-vegetarian food into the hostel.

If you could study properly, I would highly recommened this hostel accommodation.

Thank you. Best of luck.

Best regards,

Manasa

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses all three bullet points: describing your past accommodation, recommending a search method, and warning about mistakes. However, the development is uneven. While you describe the hostel, the recommendation for how to look for accommodation is missing; you only recommend the hostel itself rather than explaining the process of finding a place. Additionally, the warning about mistakes is slightly confusing, as you mention rules like 'do not bring non-vegetarian food' rather than common mistakes students make when choosing a place to live. To improve, ensure each bullet point is clearly answered with specific, relevant advice.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The email is organised into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the flow between sentences is sometimes disjointed. For example, the transition from describing the hostel to discussing rules is abrupt. You use some cohesive devices, but they are occasionally used incorrectly, such as 'Which is the best place to accommodation for students', which is a sentence fragment. Using more varied linking words like 'furthermore', 'consequently', or 'in addition' would help improve the logical progression of your ideas and make the text feel more cohesive.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You have a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey your message, but there are several errors in word choice and collocation. For instance, you use 'give an information' (should be 'give some information'), 'well infrastructure rooms' (should be 'well-furnished' or 'good infrastructure'), and 'keep rooms unitdy' (should be 'keep rooms tidy'). These errors occasionally hinder the clarity of your writing. To reach a higher band, focus on using more precise collocations and ensure you are using nouns and adjectives in their correct forms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors. Examples include 'I had been living there for 7 years before I graduated' (the tense usage is slightly awkward here), 'it was a excellent amenities' (should be 'it had excellent amenities'), and 'They are a plethora of rules' (should be 'There are'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with comma usage. While these errors do not completely prevent understanding, they occur frequently enough to impact the overall fluency of the writing.

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

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