Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-17

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 friend,

I hope you are doing well. It was great news to hear that you planning to take course at my university.

When, I was studying at the university at that time I lived with my classmates in girls P.G ,which was about 2 km away from my university .There were plenty of afforable options like, large bedrooms with attached washrooms and open living area to study alone without any disturbance.

I would give you advice to think twice before living anywhere.I would consider that you should live in P.G or hostel, because both are the best options for you. you will feel more comfortable while living there and get chance to meet new friends to share all kinds of things with them.

I will let you know before finding any location to live that firstly check the proper location. It is near the bus stop or not. Then you should know the room partners by meeting with them. sometimes we did not get good friends so it is vital to know who is living with you.

please let me know if you need any kind of help regarding accomodation.

your faithfully

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response covers all three bullet points required by the prompt in a generally appropriate General Training tone, addressing the recipient informally as a friend. You successfully describe where you lived ('with my classmates in girls P.G ,which was about 2 km away'), recommend accommodation types such as P.G or a hostel, and warn about potential issues like checking the location and room partners ('sometimes we did not get good friends so it is vital to know who is living with you'). However, the development of some ideas is slightly brief, and the conclusion contains a formal sign-off ('your faithfully') which is inappropriate for an email to a friend. Nevertheless, all parts of the task are adequately addressed, earning a solid band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The email has a clear overall arrangement and follows a logical sequence from the greeting to describing past living conditions, giving advice, warning about mistakes, and offering further help. Paragraphing is used to separate distinct topics, though some paragraph breaks are slightly abrupt. Cohesive devices are sometimes basic or repetitive ('Then you should know', 'I would consider'), and referencing is occasionally unclear, such as the dangling phrase in 'I will let you know before finding any location to live that firstly check the proper location'. While the flow is generally understandable, the mechanical nature of the transitions and punctuation issues keep this criterion at a band 6.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

Your vocabulary is adequate for the task, successfully conveying meaning using familiar terms such as 'classmates', 'washrooms', 'bus stop', and 'accommodation'. You also attempt some less common local terminology like 'P.G' (paying guest). However, there are noticeable lexical errors and awkward collocations, such as 'take course' instead of 'take a course', 'afforable' (spelling error), and 'get chance' instead of 'get the chance'. Furthermore, the sign-off 'your faithfully' is lexically and pragmatically incorrect for an informal letter to a friend (where 'Best wishes' or 'Yours sincerely' / 'Best' would be expected). These limitations place your lexical score at a band 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as the relative clause in 'which was about 2 km away from my university'. However, there are frequent grammatical inaccuracies and punctuation errors throughout the text. Examples include missing articles ('take course'), tense and clause structure errors ('When, I was studying at the university at that time I lived'), unnecessary commas and spacing issues ('girls P.G ,which was', 'options like, large'), and awkward phrasing ('I would consider that you should live'). While these errors do not completely impede communication, they occur regularly and prevent the attainment of a higher band, resulting in a band 5.5.

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

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