Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-06

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 friend,

I hope you are doing well. I am happy to know that you enrolled yourself in the business course in the university where I studied from 2023 to 2025.

To begin with, I was living in a rental house which is 10 minutes walk from the university. I got chance to live in a local family, they are really helpful and friendly. I had never feel home sickness while living for three years.

I would like to suggest you if you are looking a comfortable accommodation, you should find a house which near to the university, so you can save your travelling expenses.

I can give you contact number of my previous landlord, if there is any room is available they will allote you. If any chance , you will not find any room there, please careful to sign any contract and take picture with case of other landlord.

I hope these suggestions would help you.

Regards,

Lovely

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all three bullet points: describing your previous accommodation, recommending a search method, and warning about potential mistakes. The tone is appropriate for an email to a friend. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, the warning about contracts is slightly vague and grammatically unclear, which hinders the clarity of the advice. To improve, you should provide more specific details about the 'mistakes' students make, such as paying deposits before viewing properties or failing to check utility costs, rather than general advice about taking pictures. Overall, the task is fulfilled, but the depth of the content could be increased to better support your recommendations.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The email is logically organized into paragraphs, each addressing a specific bullet point. You use basic cohesive devices such as 'To begin with' and 'I would like to suggest' to guide the reader. However, the flow between sentences is sometimes mechanical, and the referencing is occasionally unclear, such as in the final paragraph where the phrase 'take picture with case of other landlord' is confusing. Improving the use of linking words and ensuring that pronouns clearly refer to their antecedents would help the text flow more naturally. The paragraphing is appropriate for an informal email format.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for this task, using terms like 'accommodation', 'travelling expenses', and 'landlord'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'got chance to live' (should be 'had the chance to live') and 'allote you' (should be 'allocate' or 'rent to you'). The vocabulary is generally functional but lacks the precision and variety required for a higher band. To improve, focus on using more natural collocations and avoiding repetitive phrasing. Expanding your repertoire of descriptive adjectives and phrasal verbs would also enhance the quality of your writing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, such as 'I had never feel home sickness' (should be 'I never felt homesick'), 'looking a comfortable accommodation' (missing 'for'), and 'please careful to sign' (should be 'be careful when signing'). These errors are noticeable but do not prevent the reader from understanding your message. To reach a higher band, you need to demonstrate better control over verb tenses, prepositions, and sentence construction. Focus on proofreading for basic subject-verb agreement and article usage.

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

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