Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-29

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 6.5)

Dear Parth,

I hope this letter finds you well! I am very happy to hear you have got admission into your dream course " Baking and Cooking" in Missi Univercity this year. I received your letter asking for accomodation in the city. As you are aware, I had family friends who used to live in Ottawa. So, initially first year I stayed with them. In second year, we rented a place and shared with other three friends.

I would suggest to find out a place in the College residence to begin with, and as soon as you gather your life together, you can start looking for rental house. Additionally, rental houses are also available on Facebook Marketplace, where you can chat about it and make a deal to sign a lease. Moreover, there are rental websites are also very popular for rental of homes, euipments and machines.

However, these options are quite easy, there is also a threat of scam and fraud advertisements. I have heard of incidents like signing fack lease, asking for the deposit and stealing money. At the end it turns out no property is there in reality. So, be aware of such kind of scammers online.

I am very excited for your new journey.

With love,

Sajan

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

The response covers all three bullet points required by the prompt effectively. You successfully described your past student accommodation experience, noting that you stayed with family friends in Ottawa during your first year and shared a rented place in your second year. You provided a practical recommendation to start with college residence before transitioning to private rentals found via Facebook Marketplace or specialised websites. Furthermore, you warned your friend about common online scams, such as fake leases and stolen deposits. The tone is appropriate for an informal email to a friend, and the purpose of the letter is clearly achieved throughout the text. The ideas are adequately supported and well-tailored to the scenario provided, meeting the requirements for a Band 7.0.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The email has a clear, logical organisation with a natural progression from greeting, to past experience, recommendations, warnings, and a warm closing. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct ideas, such as paragraph two focusing on recommendations and paragraph three focusing on warnings. Cohesive devices like 'Additionally', 'Moreover', and 'However' are employed to link ideas, although phrases like 'there are rental websites are also very popular' indicate slightly awkward transitions. Referencing is generally clear, and the overall structure ensures the letter is easy to follow from start to finish, reflecting the criteria for a Band 6.5.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You demonstrated an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for this general task, using terms such as 'admission', 'accomodation', 'scam', 'fraud advertisements', and 'deposit'. There are some spelling errors, such as 'accomodation', 'Univercity', 'euipments', and 'fack', which detract from the lexical quality. Additionally, some collocations could be more natural, such as 'got admission into' instead of 'been accepted into'. However, the vocabulary used is sufficient to convey your message clearly without impeding communication, earning a Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as conditional or participial clauses ('As you are aware, I had family friends...', 'as soon as you gather your life together, you can start...'). There are several grammatical and mechanical errors, including 'initially first year I stayed' (missing preposition/article), 'I would suggest to find out' (inappropriate infinitive structure, 'suggest finding'), and 'there are rental websites are also very popular' (double verbs). Despite these errors, they rarely impede communication, and many sentences remain error-free, placing your grammar performance firmly at a Band 6.0.

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