Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 4.5 · 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 4.5)
firstly i thank to my friend which give me favor.i grate full for his consideration and affection.her /him understand my situation and favorable for this advice. i thankful forher/him taking concern about university hostel information.i find the near hostel that are close to your university.you just walking distance and reach timely on university.you see multiple hostel that are affordable and near to your university.I would suggest you that you choose that is affordable and reasonable or in your budget. That fair or rent become difficulty and anxious for you in your future.i give you more favor that we both find for you a budget friendly hostel. we find which hostel which is airy , comfortable,and having all basic needs that not create problem because after coming from university you need comfortable space where you sleep well and study easily.i hope we both successful in our affordable and comfortable and nearly to our university.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 4.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 4.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 4.5 |
| Overall | 4.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5
The response addresses the task only minimally, meeting the bare minimum requirements while leaving several bullet points underdeveloped or confused. While the writer attempts to discuss where to live by mentioning a hostel close to the university and suggests looking for an affordable place, the execution is hampered by confusion regarding who is moving and who is advising. The prompt asks you to advise your friend who has been offered a place, but the student writes expressions like 'i thank to my friend which give me favor' and 'i grateful for his consideration', which reverses the roles or confuses the perspective. Furthermore, the warning about mistakes students make is weak and repetitive, focusing merely on budget concerns rather than clearly outlining common pitfalls in accommodation hunting. To move to a higher level, all parts of the prompt must be clearly and logically developed from the correct persona throughout the entire response.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.0
The information and ideas are not arranged coherently, making the email difficult to follow as a unified piece of writing. There is a lack of proper paragraphing, with the entire text presented as a single dense block of sentences. Cohesive devices are either missing or misused, and the progression of ideas is disjointed. For instance, jumping abruptly from thanking the friend to describing hostels, and then into future anxieties without clear transition markers, creates a confusing reading experience. Reference words such as 'her /him' and 'that' are frequently unclear, making it hard to track what or whom the writer is referring to. Achieving better coherence requires grouping related ideas into clear paragraphs and using logical connectors to guide the reader smoothly from one point to the next.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is limited and contains noticeable errors that cause difficulty for the reader. The writer relies heavily on basic, repetitive terms and attempts awkward lexical combinations, such as 'give me favor', 'grate full', and 'taking concern about university hostel information'. Word forms are frequently inaccurate, as seen in 'that fair or rent become difficulty and anxious for you'. Spelling errors and incorrect word choices, like mixing up pronouns and prepositions, impede smooth communication. To improve lexical resource, the writer should focus on expanding their range of vocabulary, learning correct word forms and collocations, and paying closer attention to standard phrasing for informal correspondence.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5
The grammar demonstrates a very limited range of structures, with frequent errors that obscure the intended meaning. The majority of sentences contain basic errors in verb forms, tenses, subject-verb agreement, and articles. Examples include 'which give me favor', 'i find the near hostel that are close', and 'we both successful in our affordable and comfortable and nearly to our university'. Complex sentence attempts are frequently faulty, resulting in fragmented or run-on thoughts lacking proper punctuation. To progress to a higher band, the writer needs to demonstrate better control over basic sentence patterns, ensure correct verb tenses are used consistently, and reduce the frequency of fundamental grammatical mistakes.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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