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 Simran,

Hope you are doing great! I am writing this letter to give you some advice before finding any place near the university.

I think you will remember that, when I was studying there, I lived near the university in rented accommodation, which is just at 10 mintue walking distance. We are two students living there, and there is one kitchen and one bathroom are available for both of us. Moreover, the price is also very affordable for both of us.

Now, I want to give you some tips while looking for accommodation. Firstly, you should join a WhatsApp Community group, where they usually make posts regarding available rental houses and apartments. Also, you can also talk you university admin about the accommodation they will also tell about few places.

Please, make sure that you are extra care about the fake links that people send about accommodation. Moreover, also pay attention to the overall rent, like is it include also electric, gas, water and so on.

Nice to talk to you. God bless you in your studies.

Yours lovingly.

Gurleen Kaur.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response covers all three bullet points required by the prompt. You described your past living situation, recommended a method for finding accommodation (WhatsApp groups and university admin), and provided warnings regarding scams and utility costs. The tone is appropriate for an email to a friend. To reach a higher band, you could expand on the 'why' behind your recommendations or provide more specific details about the student experience to fully develop your ideas. Overall, the task is addressed clearly and effectively.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The email is logically organized into paragraphs, each addressing a specific bullet point. You use some cohesive devices like 'Moreover', 'Firstly', and 'Also' to link your ideas. However, the flow is occasionally slightly mechanical. For example, the transition between the description of your past accommodation and the advice section could be smoother. Additionally, some sentences are a bit repetitive in structure. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring that referencing (e.g., 'they' referring to the university admin) is clearer would enhance the overall cohesion.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You use a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey your message clearly, such as 'rented accommodation', 'affordable', and 'university admin'. There are some minor errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'extra care' instead of 'extra careful' and 'talk you university' instead of 'talk to your university'. While these do not impede communication, they indicate a need for more precise control over common collocations. Expanding your vocabulary to include more idiomatic expressions or precise adjectives would help elevate your score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. However, there are several grammatical errors throughout the text, such as '10 mintue walking distance' (should be '10-minute walk'), 'there is one kitchen and one bathroom are available' (redundant verb usage), and 'is it include also' (incorrect auxiliary verb usage). While these errors are frequent, they do not prevent the reader from understanding your meaning. To improve, focus on subject-verb agreement and the correct use of auxiliary verbs in questions.

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

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