Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-02

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 Priya,

I hope you are doing well. I'm writing a letter to give you a advice about the accommodation references, which you will need it while studying at the BPP university.

I chose to live in a flat when I was a student at the university. The flat which i chose contains one bed room, hall, kitchen with all morden aminities and it is located close to the tube and bus station so for me it is very easy to commute to the college. Moreover, it has free wifi facility which helps a lot for my studies.

I would like to give you a number and details of a rental agent which helped me a lot to find my convenient flat. His name is Niaz and his phone number is [redacted phone] and he works for a Own rental company. You can contact him in working hours 9 to 5.

I like to warn you about the one thing is that make sure you read the rental agreement terms and conditions before moving to the place, as sometimes it may be fraud.

All the best for your new beginings. If you need any help you can contact me any time.

Yours lovingly,

Kaira Boss

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, as you successfully described where you lived as a student, recommended a way to look for housing, and warned your friend about potential risks. However, some parts are only partially developed or lack sufficient detail. For instance, the recommendation is limited to giving a specific contact number for an agent without elaborating on alternative search methods such as student housing portals or local websites. Additionally, the warning regarding rental agreements is somewhat brief and generalized. To achieve a higher band, all three bullet points need to be more fully extended with richer supporting details and clearer explanations.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The email has a coherent overall arrangement with a clear, logical structure that moves appropriately from an introduction to describing past accommodation, giving recommendations, and finally offering warnings. Paragraphing is used sufficiently to separate distinct ideas, such as placing the rental agent details in a dedicated paragraph. However, cohesion at the sentence level is occasionally mechanical or faulty, seen in repetitive referencing like 'The flat which i chose' and simple transition phrases such as 'I like to warn you about the one thing is that'. To progress further, you should aim for smoother transitions between paragraphs and more natural referencing to guide the reader seamlessly through your ideas.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

An adequate range of vocabulary is employed to complete the task, allowing you to successfully convey your message about student accommodation. There are attempts to use less common items and specific housing vocabulary, such as 'morden aminities', 'rental agreement', and 'commute'. However, there are noticeable spelling errors like 'morden' instead of modern, 'aminities' instead of amenities, and 'beginings' instead of beginnings, alongside minor word choice slips such as 'give you a advice' and 'convenient flat' where 'suitable' might be more precise. These lexical inaccuracies do not impede communication, but they prevent the writing from reaching a higher band level.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating relative clauses such as 'which you will need it' and 'which helped me a lot'. There are some errors in grammar and punctuation throughout the text, such as unnecessary pronouns ('which you will need it'), incorrect articles ('give you a advice'), capitalization issues ('BPP university'), and awkward prepositions. While these errors occur regularly, they rarely impede overall communication. To move up to the next band, you need to produce a higher frequency of error-free sentences, particularly when attempting complex grammatical structures, and ensure better control over articles and pronoun usage.

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

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