Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)
Dear Anu,
I hope you are doing well. I heard you are going to join my university where I did my graduation as well as you are looking for accomodation. However, when i was doing my course me and my friends stayed in an apartment that is close to our campus. The apartment is conveniently located near my campus which makes it an ideal place to commute daily and that way I can save transportation cost.
In addition, I would like to recommend you join any college Whatsapp group for finding out best area for living. Moreover, you will get friends for sharing the apartment in a equal space and you don't get any home sickness if people are around you where you live. Even though, don't forget to make a tenancy agreement for the rental place and check for the charges they mentioned in that for paying.
I hope you understand everything and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Yours faithfully
Anju
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 6.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 6.0 |
| Overall | 6.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5
The response addresses all three bullet points of the prompt: describing your previous accommodation, recommending a search method, and warning about common mistakes. The tone is appropriate for a letter to a friend. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. For example, the warning about tenancy agreements is brief and could be expanded with more specific advice on what to look for. While the task is fully addressed, the depth of the content is basic, which prevents it from reaching the higher bands. The structure is clear, and the purpose of the email is immediately apparent to the reader.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5
The email is logically organized with a clear progression of ideas. Paragraphing is used to separate the different requirements of the task. Cohesive devices such as 'In addition', 'Moreover', and 'Even though' are used to link sentences, although some transitions feel slightly mechanical or are used incorrectly, such as 'Even though' at the start of a sentence. Referencing is generally clear, though the flow between the advice on WhatsApp groups and the warning about tenancy agreements could be smoother. Overall, the message is easy to follow.
Lexical Resource — Band 6.0
The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks variety and precision. You use basic terms like 'apartment', 'campus', and 'friends'. There are some spelling errors, such as 'accomodation' (accommodation) and 'equal space' (which is slightly unnatural in this context). While you attempt to use some topic-specific vocabulary, the range is limited. To improve, you should aim to incorporate more descriptive adjectives and collocations related to housing and student life to demonstrate a wider lexical range.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0
The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as 'me and my friends stayed' (should be 'my friends and I'), 'in a equal space' (should be 'in an equal space'), and 'don't get any home sickness' (should be 'don't get homesick'). Punctuation is generally functional, but there are some issues with sentence boundaries and article usage. While these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. Increasing the variety of complex structures while focusing on accuracy would be beneficial.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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