Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-05

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 John,

It was great to hear about your offer related to a course and I am very happy for you. I know you are very passionate about Artificial Intelligence and wanted to do a course in that stream from a well recognized university. Finally, that day is not far away anymore.

While you live in Punjab and the university is in Karnataka, which is far away from your home. So, you are looking for a place to move in there. I have also studied a course from the same university in 2022. During that time I was living in a rented room, which was only 1 km away from the university. Therefore it was very convenient for me to commute and saved me a lot of time. I founded that place from the app called "Easy Rentals". You can also use this app to find the accommodation.

I would suggest, you should not choose the location of your accommodation based on the price. Because you might find the cheapest place on the app, but it might be far away from your university. So, plenty of your time would be used in the travel only as the city has a lot of traffic.

I hope my suggestions would help you to find the best place to live. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Best wishes,

Ranjit

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

You have successfully addressed all three bullet points in the prompt. You described your past living situation, recommended a specific app for finding accommodation, and provided a clear warning about the pitfalls of choosing housing based solely on price. The tone is appropriate for an email to a friend, and the purpose of the letter is clear throughout. To reach a higher band, ensure that your ideas are slightly more developed; for instance, you could have elaborated more on the specific benefits of the location you chose or provided a more detailed example of the 'mistakes' students make beyond just the commute time.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The email is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a closing. Each paragraph focuses on a specific requirement of the task. You use some cohesive devices such as 'Therefore', 'While', and 'Because', which help the flow of ideas. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical or repetitive. To improve, try to vary your linking words and ensure that the connection between sentences is smoother. For example, the sentence 'While you live in Punjab and the university is in Karnataka...' is a fragment and disrupts the flow; connecting it to the following sentence would improve the overall cohesion.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You have a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey your message clearly. You use relevant terms like 'accommodation', 'convenient', 'commute', and 'passionate'. There are some minor errors in word choice, such as 'founded' instead of 'found' and 'do a course in that stream' which is slightly unnatural. While your vocabulary is adequate for the task, incorporating more precise collocations or idiomatic expressions would help you reach a higher band. Overall, your vocabulary is functional and allows for effective communication without causing confusion.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While you are generally able to communicate your ideas, there are several grammatical errors, such as the sentence fragment 'While you live in Punjab and the university is in Karnataka, which is far away from your home.' Additionally, there are issues with verb tense and article usage, such as 'I founded that place from the app' and 'the app called'. Despite these errors, the meaning remains clear throughout the email. To improve, focus on sentence construction and proofreading for basic subject-verb agreement and tense consistency.

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

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