Band 7.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-06

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 7.0)

Dear John,

It was great to hear from you, and I'm so happy about you getting a position on a course at the same university I did my graduation from. As for the accommodation, I advice you to get an apartment in Centennial Court Apartments.

Since I lived at the same apartment complex throughout, I personally recommend you staying there as it's close to the university hall where most of the computer science lectures will take take place.

You can simply go on their website to look for the apartments currently available. They offer both in-person and online tours. I highly suggest you book an in-person tour with them as you'd get a better idea if the place would suite you or not.

Please make sure to read the full leasing documents and not just skim through it since a lot of students often just sign the document later realizing the hidden details. Also, check the distance between the apartment and the lecture hall before you sign as you'd be walking for most of the time.

Let me know what you decide.

Best wishes,

Naman

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

The response successfully addresses all parts of the task by describing where you lived as a student, recommending Centennial Court Apartments, and warning about common student mistakes like signing without reading lease documents. The tone is appropriately informal and friendly throughout. Your ideas are relevant and clear, though certain points, such as the advice about checking distances, could have been slightly more elaborated to achieve full development. However, a clear position and purpose are maintained from beginning to end, successfully fulfilling all bullet points required in the prompt.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The email demonstrates a clear logical organization and progression throughout. Ideas flow naturally from greeting to accommodation recommendation, followed by booking suggestions and finally warnings about leasing documents. You use cohesive devices effectively to link your thoughts, such as 'Since I lived at the same apartment complex throughout' and 'Please make sure to read'. Paragraphing is handled well, with distinct paragraphs dedicated to specific themes like recommendations, booking methods, and precautions, ensuring the text is easy to follow and cohesively structured.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully communicating your personal recommendations with appropriate phrasing such as 'apartment complex', 'in-person and online tours', and 'leasing documents'. There are a few minor lexical issues, such as writing 'I advice you' (where the verb 'advise' is needed) and 'suite you' instead of 'suit you'. These occasional errors in word choice and word form do not impede communication, but eliminating them and attempting more sophisticated collocation would elevate your lexical score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 7.0

The writing features a good mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including conditional and relative clauses like 'as it's close to the university hall where most of the computer science lectures will take place'. There are frequent error-free sentences, and you demonstrate good control over punctuation and verb tenses. A minor slip occurs in the introductory sentence ('did my graduation from' is slightly unnatural compared to 'graduated from'), but overall, your grammar is accurate and supports clear communication without causing any difficulty for the reader.

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

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