Band 7.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-19

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 7.5)

Dear Sam,

I hope this letter finds you in radiant health and best of spirits. I am really excieted to know that you have decided to study at the University of British Columbia. I am writing this letter in response of your queries regarding the accommodation suggestions.

While I was studying at the university, I used to stay at the Paul street. My accommodation was at the walking distance from the main campus. Choosing a place nearby campus helped me save a significant amount of money as I was convenient to walk to the classes.

You can use facebook marketplace to search for the accommodation in the nearby region by selecting the area in the app. The best part of using the marketplace app is that there are no brokerage charges involved. Moreover, university's advertisement board is also a helpful place to find suitable apartments.

I would also like to warn you about some of the most common mistakes students make while looking for a palce to live in. Always choose a place with laundry as it saves time and efforts of visiting an external laundry store, specifically during harsh winters. Moreover, always pay booking amount after physically visiting the location because nowadays landlords beautify the room images using an AI tool.

Wishing you all the very best for your studies.

Yours lovingly,

Achin

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 8.0

The response fully satisfies all requirements of the task. You successfully addressed every bullet point by describing your past student accommodation (Paul street close to the campus), recommending the best way to search for a place (Facebook Marketplace and university noticeboards), and warning of common mistakes (checking for laundry facilities and avoiding scam listings by visiting before paying). The tone is appropriately informal and friendly, suitable for an email to a friend. The purpose of the letter is clear from the beginning, and all ideas are well-developed and supported with practical details, such as mentioning harsh winters and AI image alteration. This meets the criteria for a high band score.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.5

The email is logically organised and flows smoothly from a friendly opening to the delivery of advice, followed by a warm closing. Paragraphing is used effectively, with each body paragraph dedicated to a distinct aspect of the prompt: past experience, accommodation search methods, and warnings about common pitfalls. Cohesive devices such as 'While I was studying', 'Moreover', and 'I would also like to warn you' are employed naturally to guide the reader through the text. Referencing is clear throughout, and the overall progression of ideas is logical and easy to follow, representing solid cohesion management.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

You demonstrate an adequate and flexible range of vocabulary suitable for a general email. Phrases like 'radiant health and best of spirits', 'significant amount of money', and 'brokerage charges' show a good awareness of collocations and functional language. There is a minor spelling slip with 'excieted' instead of 'excited' and a slight preposition error in 'response of' instead of 'response to', but these do not impede communication. Less common items such as 'beautify' and 'external' are integrated reasonably well, though some expressions lean slightly towards informal conversational norms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 7.0

The text displays a good mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as adverbial clauses ('While I was studying at the university, I used to stay at the Paul street') and relative clauses. Grammatical control is generally strong with many error-free sentences. However, there are a few minor inaccuracies, such as an unnecessary article in 'stay at the Paul street' and 'visit an external laundry store', as well as a punctuation slip in 'university's advertisement board'. Despite these minor flaws, sentence structures are varied, and punctuation and grammar do not impede overall communication.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.