Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)

Dear Divya,

I would like to congratulate for securing an enrolment in your desire university. As a alumni, I am sharing some important information for finding accommodation which could make your process faster.

There are three type of accommodation options for university's students. Firstly, you can either live in paying guest as many guest houses are available. Another option is to register for university's houses. The last option is to rent private house and live with other university's students. This is much affordable option.

There are many property listing websites but Facebook Marketplace is the best platform to find accommodation. There are few filters such as number of rooms which make the finding easy. Although Kijiji is an another famous platform, response is much slower compare to Facebook Marketplace.

There are lots of scammers who target university's students for fraudulent activities. If someone ask for advance deposit before viewing the house, it most likely a scam. Therefore, always pay money after properly view a house.

I hope my advice can make your accommodation finding journey faster.

Best of luck,

Sahil

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

You have addressed all three bullet points in the prompt: describing your past living situation, recommending a search method, and warning about potential scams. However, the first bullet point is not fully addressed; you mention three general options for students but fail to describe where you personally lived when you were a student at the university. This is a key requirement of the task. To improve, ensure you provide specific personal details as requested by the prompt. The tone is appropriate for an email to a friend, and the purpose is clear throughout.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The email is logically organized into distinct paragraphs, each focusing on a specific aspect of the prompt. You use some cohesive devices such as 'Firstly', 'Another option', and 'Therefore' to guide the reader. However, the transition between the introduction and the body paragraphs is slightly abrupt. Additionally, some referencing is repetitive, such as the frequent use of 'university's students'. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring smoother transitions between sentences would enhance the flow of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'fraudulent activities', 'accommodation', and 'platform'. However, there are several inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'securing an enrolment in your desire university' (should be 'desired') and 'As a alumni' (should be 'As an alumnus'). You also use 'much affordable' instead of 'much more affordable'. While these errors do not impede communication, they indicate a need for more precise control over word forms and collocations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors throughout the text, including article usage ('the university's students' vs 'university students') and subject-verb agreement ('If someone ask' should be 'asks'). You also have issues with comparative structures, such as 'response is much slower compare to' (should be 'compared to'). While these errors are noticeable, they rarely impede the reader's understanding of your message. To reach a higher band, focus on proofreading for small grammatical slips.

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

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