Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-04

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 John,

I am writing letter to congratulate you on your acceptance at the University. I still cannot believe you made to it. Being an alumnia of the same university I can confidently say that you made a great choice for your career. This is one of the best university in entire Canada.

Moving ahead, I know you're struggling with finding an accomodation. Don't worry this is quite common, even I faced this challenge when I was new comer to the university. I can surely help you in finding an accodomation. Firstly, register yourself for university accomodation. The rentof hostel accomodation is little expense as compare to out of campus rooms but this is more safer and will save you commute timing.

Neverthless, don't depend on the hostel accomodation as they have limited number of rooms which fill really faster so it is likely possible you may not get any room during your homing term.

Additonally, also get access to universities what's app groups, many people post availabilities in the groups chat. I found my first room via this way. Additonally, actively search for rooms on facebook market place and Kijiji application. I am sure you will get an accomodation before starting of your first team.

Furthermore, you need to be beware of the scams that many new comers fell into, make sure you're not paying any brokrage or partial money to reverse the place. Many people will say they have so many people after this place so you need to confirm your viewing by paying an amount.

You really don't have to pay any amount in advance. Also make sure you're personally visiting everyplace and make sure to ask every question possible.

Congratulate again on your admission.

Your friend,

Navdeep

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, successfully describing where the writer lived as a student, recommending accommodation hunting methods, and warning about common scams. However, certain ideas remain somewhat under-developed or briefly treated. For instance, the description of past accommodation is relatively simple ('register yourself for university accomodation') without elaborating much on the living experience itself. The tone is appropriately informal and friendly throughout, fulfilling the general task requirements. To reach a higher level, the writer would need to extend and fully develop all bullet points with more depth and supporting details rather than moving quickly from one point to the next.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The email demonstrates a coherent overall arrangement with a clear sequence of ideas, moving logically from congratulations to the student's current struggle, recommendations, and finally warnings. Paragraphing is used sufficiently to break up different topics, and the transition phrases like 'Moving ahead', 'Additonally', and 'Furthermore' are deployed to guide the reader. However, some cohesive devices feel slightly mechanical or repetitive, such as the repeated use of 'Additonally'. Reference pronouns occasionally become a bit unclear. To move towards higher bands, the writer must employ a wider and more flexible range of cohesive devices without over-relying on basic connectors, ensuring smoother and more natural progression throughout the response.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, successfully communicating the main points regarding student housing. The writer attempts some less common vocabulary items and phrases, but these are accompanied by noticeable errors in spelling, word choice, and word formation. Examples include 'alumnia' instead of alumnus or alumna, 'accomodation' misspelled throughout, 'expense' instead of expensive, 'homeing' instead of coming, 'what's app' instead of WhatsApp, 'brokrage' instead of brokerage, and 'everyplace' instead of every place. These lexical and orthographic errors are frequent enough to cause some distraction for the reader. To achieve a higher standard, the writer needs to expand their control of common collocations and improve spelling accuracy significantly.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The text displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some variety in structure. There are instances of successful complex sentences, such as when giving reasons or explaining the risks of scams. However, frequent grammatical and punctuation errors occur throughout the text, including article omissions ('new comer to the university'), preposition errors ('in finding an accodomation'), tense and agreement issues ('This is one of the best university'), and run-on sentences ('Don't worry this is quite common'). While these errors rarely completely impede communication, they are frequent enough to cause occasional difficulty for the reader. To progress, the writer must exercise better control over basic agreement, articles, and punctuation in complex structures.

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

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