Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-15

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 John,

I hope you are doing well. I am doing great over here. Its a good thing that you got admission in the one of the best university in Canada where once i used to be a student.

I used to live very near to the university building as you can reach it by walking in only 15 minutes while if you will take the city bus which give service every half an hour day time, it can take you to institute in just five minutes. My accomodation was the long building in front of gate.

The best way to get help with residency is to search it on marketplace facebook app. there you can get a number of varities of different rooms on sharing and private basis.

I would also like to inform you about the frauds that are happening in the city. The homeowners ask for money before everything. Be aware not to give any money to anyone till the time you dont move into the area.

Remember I am always there to help you.

Yours truthfully,

Tim

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response successfully covers all bullet points required in the task prompt. First, Tim describes where he lived when he was a student, mentioning that his accommodation was 'the long building in front of gate' and noting the travel time to the university. Second, he recommends the best way to find accommodation by suggesting the 'marketplace facebook app'. Third, he warns his friend about common mistakes and scams, specifically advising against paying money before moving into the area. The tone is appropriate for an informal email to a friend, and all parts of the prompt are addressed adequately, placing this comfortably in the Band 6.0 to 6.5 range.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The email has a clear overall arrangement and follows an appropriate structure for a friendly letter, beginning with a standard greeting and closing with 'Yours truthfully, Tim'. Ideas are generally easy to follow, transitioning from personal reminiscence to recommendations and warnings. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical or relies on simple conjunctions. For instance, sentences like 'while if you will take the city bus which give service every half an hour day time, it can take you to institute in just five minutes' are overly long and run-on, which affects the smooth flow of information. Paragraphing is used to separate distinct ideas, though the paragraphs are quite short.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing Tim to communicate his points clearly. He attempts some less common expressions, such as 'varities of different rooms on sharing and private basis' and 'homeowners ask for money before everything'. However, there are noticeable word choice and spelling errors throughout the text, such as 'accomodation' instead of 'accommodation' and 'admission in the one of the best university'. Furthermore, phrases like 'marketplace facebook app' sound slightly unnatural compared to standard phrasing like 'Facebook Marketplace'. The lexical range is sufficient for communication, but inaccuracies prevent it from reaching a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as 'I used to live very near to the university building as you can reach it by walking...'. However, there are several grammatical errors and awkward constructions, including 'Its a good thing' (missing apostrophe), 'got admission in the one of the best university' (article and pluralisation errors), and 'till the time you dont move into the area'. Additionally, the sentence 'while if you will take the city bus which give service every half an hour day time, it can take you to institute in just five minutes' contains tense and verb agreement errors ('give service' instead of 'provides service'). These errors occasionally cause slight hesitation for the reader.

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

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