Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-16
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 5.5)
Dear Aman,
I am writing this email regarding the matter mentioned the question. I would like to provide some relevant deatils and explain the matter clearly. I hope you will understand my points of view and consider the matter carefully.
Firstly, i would like to explain the main reasons for writting this letter. I hope you are doing well. I was very happy to hear that you have got a palce on a course at the university where i studied. congratulations I am writting to give you some advice about finding a good place to live.
When i was a student ther, i lived in a small room near the univrsity. It was only a ten minute walk from my college. The rent was reasonsable, and there were many shops and resturents nearby.I really enjoyed living there beacuse it was convient and safe.
In my opinion,the best way to find accomodation is to check online websites and students groups.You can also ask the university about student accomodation.I think you should visit the place before paying any money.
You should also be careful aabout some common mistakes.Do not choose a place only because it is cheap.Chec the rent, bills, and the distance form the university.
I hope my advice will help you.Thankyou for taking the time to read my letter. I trully appriciate your time and consideration.If you require some relevant details, please do not hesitate to contact me.I look forward tohearing from you soon.
Best wishes,
lavinder
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response successfully covers all bullet points required by the prompt. The student describes where they lived when they were a student ('a small room near the university... only a ten minute walk'), recommends the best way to look for accommodation ('check online websites and students groups'), and warns of common mistakes ('Do not choose a place only because it is cheap'). However, the opening paragraph contains inappropriate template-like language ('regarding the matter mentioned the question') that sounds slightly artificial and robotic. Despite this minor issue in tone, all core requirements of the task are adequately addressed and appropriately extended, fully meeting the criteria for a Band 6.5 or solid Band 6 performance. Ideas are relevant and developed well enough for the reader to follow the advice given.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response is arranged into logical paragraphs that each address a different part of the email prompt, creating an overall coherent structure. The writer uses basic cohesive devices appropriately, such as 'Firstly', 'When i was a student', and 'In my opinion'. However, paragraphing is somewhat erratic in places, particularly with spacing issues and the second paragraph blending introductory remarks with the actual letter opening. Furthermore, referencing and punctuation around conjunctions (such as 'nearby.I really' and 'advise.Thankyou') are sometimes faulty. While the progression of ideas is clear and easy to follow, the mechanical use of cohesive devices and lack of smooth transitions prevent the writing from achieving a higher band score. Paragraphing is used, but the formatting needs better control.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully communicating personal experiences and practical advice with words like 'reasonable', 'convenient', and 'accommodation'. However, there are several noticeable spelling errors throughout the text, including 'deatils', 'writting', 'palce', 'ther', 'univrsity', 'resturents', 'beacuse', 'convient', 'accomodation' (repeatedly misspelled), 'aabout', 'Chec', 'form', 'trully', and 'appriciate'. While these spelling mistakes and minor word choice slips do not impede overall communication, their frequency prevents the lexical score from reaching Band 7. The writer attempts some less common vocabulary, but accuracy issues in spelling lower the overall lexical reliability.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The writer demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and conditional structures reasonably well ('I was very happy to hear that you have got a place...', 'If you require some relevant details...'). There are frequent errors in punctuation and capitalization, such as lowercase 'i' used independently throughout the text, missing spaces after commas and periods (e.g., 'opinion,the', 'advice will help you.Thankyou'), and spacing anomalies. Grammatical accuracy is generally acceptable in simpler structures, but minor errors persist in punctuation control. Because the majority of simple sentences are reasonably constructed and communication is never impeded despite the mechanical and punctuation flaws, a band score of 6.0 is appropriate.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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