Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-10

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 4.5)

Dear Manager,

I am writing this letter to inform you that accidentally I forget my bag in the gym before it closed for a renovation. I am a regular member of your gym from last six months and I usually visit in the gym in evening for workout.

I think that I left my bag near the changing room at left side of the gym. The color of my bag is red and black with good fitness tag. I also have a black color water bottle and also a shaker inside the bag. I also have some important things in the bag such as my wallet, housekeys, headphones and some important documents which I need at gym.

I understand that the gym is closed for a week because of renovation. I will be very thankful if you ask your staff member for checking my bag in the changing room because I really need of these things and tell them to keep my bag in safe place.

Thank you for understanding for my situation. I look forward to your response.

Yours faithfully,

Crissa Chen

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 1.0

The response is completely off-topic. The task required writing an email to a friend about university accommodation, but the student wrote a formal letter to a gym manager regarding a lost bag. Consequently, the response fails to address any of the bullet points provided in the instructions. According to the IELTS criteria, a response that is largely off-topic must be penalised heavily in Task Achievement as it does not address the prompt at all.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

Despite being off-topic, the letter is logically organised. It uses standard formal letter conventions, such as an opening and closing, and follows a clear paragraph structure. Each paragraph has a distinct focus: the purpose of the letter, the description of the lost item, and the request for action. Cohesive devices like 'I am writing', 'I think that', and 'I understand that' are used to link ideas, though the overall content is irrelevant to the task prompt.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for a basic formal letter. The student uses relevant terms such as 'renovation', 'regular member', 'changing room', and 'documents'. However, there are some awkward collocations and word choice errors, such as 'I really need of these things' and 'thankful if you ask your staff member for checking'. The range is sufficient to convey the intended meaning of the lost property report, but it lacks the sophistication required for higher bands.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as 'I forget my bag' (tense error), 'I am a regular member... from last six months' (preposition/tense error), and 'I really need of these things' (incorrect verb structure). While these errors are frequent, they do not significantly impede the reader's understanding of the message. The punctuation is generally functional, though the overall control of grammar is inconsistent.

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

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