Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-14

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 5.0)

Dear Ali,

I hope everything is going well and you are fine also.As you asked me about my studies and accomodations that how i can manage all that stuff being a boy. As there is admissions opened for many universities and you have decided to come. First of all,i have to inform you that leaving out of city is quite hard but only for the few days.You have asked me about where do i live and about my accomodations. So I,am leaving in Lahore. I came here about a year ago. I chosed to live in a Individual flat. Brother I will strongly recommned you to live in flat,that would be a way better option than a hostel.The flat should near to university.There is a freedom of everything. But there is also an issue there, if there is no hurdle or anyone to revoke you then the student will be distracted so much. Although living in fat is so much better. The benefits are having good food,privacy and freedom. But keep in mind it would a bit expensive. I would recommend you to share flat with your knowns.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response covers all three bullet points required by the prompt. You successfully described where you lived (an individual flat in Lahore), recommended the best way to look for accommodation (living in a flat rather than a hostel and sharing with acquaintances), and warned of a potential mistake (lack of supervision leading to distraction). The tone is friendly and generally appropriate for an informal email to a friend. However, some ideas are slightly under-developed or expressed in a convoluted way, such as the sentence about 'hurdle or anyone to revoke you'. While the email fulfills the communicative purpose and addresses all parts of the task, the lack of fully extended supporting details places this submission firmly at a Band 6.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The email has a recognizable overall structure, beginning with appropriate pleasantries and moving into the core advice about accommodation. However, the progression of ideas is occasionally disjointed due to abrupt transitions and run-on phrasing, such as 'As you asked me about my studies and accomodations that how i can manage all that stuff being a boy.' Paragraphing is largely ignored, with the entire body of the email clustered into a single dense block of text rather than being broken down into logical paragraphs for each prompt requirement. Cohesive devices are basic and sometimes misused, for example, 'So I,am leaving in Lahore.' These issues prevent the response from achieving a higher score, indicating a Band 5 level of organizational control.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing you to convey basic ideas about housing, food, and privacy. You attempted some less common phrases like 'strongly recommend' and 'a bit expensive'. However, there are notable word choice and spelling errors throughout the text, such as 'accomodations' instead of accommodation, 'leaving' instead of living, and 'chosed' instead of chose. Additionally, phrases like 'knowns' to mean acquaintances or friends are unnatural and demonstrate lexical inaccuracy. Because these errors are noticeable and occasionally cause slight ambiguity for the reader, the lexical resource fits the Band 5 descriptor.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

You attempted a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including conditional and relative clauses. However, grammatical accuracy is weak throughout the text. There are frequent errors in verb tenses, articles, and prepositions, such as 'leaving out of city' instead of living out of the city, 'flat should near to university' missing a verb, and 'if there is no hurdle or anyone to revoke you'. Punctuation and capitalization errors are also common, such as spaces missing after commas ('First of all,i have to inform you') and unnecessary capital letters. These recurring errors mean that simple sentences are often more reliable than complex ones, placing your grammar at a Band 5 level.

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

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