Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

Dear Afnan,

I hope you are doing well. I heard about your admission in my previous university, i am so happy and confident about your currunt step about your study. I can help you to find out good and reasonable accomodation for your living.

When i was studying in this university i struggled alot to find a perfect place for me but i will refer you to go directly to Mr Hissam to avoid waste of your time and money. On the university road on walking distance he has his office in One Tower, in this tower you can see some apartments are hired by student for sharing. It is the best place to live. You can find all the markets, restuarant, library and bus station nearby suppose if you want to visit any other place to explore.

I warn you to do not believe on the room for rent advertisements that is pasted on university wall and on local social media. Because people are just making you fool and you will make trouble for yourself. Maybe you will traped to see less rent about the room but these are very crowded places and facelities are also not enoug.

best wishes for your future,

Regards,

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You successfully covered all parts of the prompt, as you described where you lived as a student, recommended the best way to find accommodation by referring your friend to Mr Hissam in One Tower, and warned against misleading advertisements on university walls and social media. However, some ideas are under-developed or lack clarity. For instance, your description of your past living situation simply states you struggled a lot without giving specific details about the location or type of housing, and your warning about online advertisements remains somewhat vague. To reach a higher level, you should extend and fully support all your ideas with more precise explanations and specific examples.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

Your email presents a coherent overall arrangement and follows an appropriate friendly letter format, beginning with a proper greeting and closing. The progression of ideas is generally clear as you move from your congratulations to your personal experience, recommendations, and warnings. However, the cohesion between sentences is sometimes mechanical or faulty. For example, transition phrases are basic, and some referencing is slightly unclear, such as the pronoun use in sentences like 'because people are just making you fool and you will make trouble for yourself.' To improve, you should use a wider and more flexible range of cohesive devices and ensure smoother paragraph transitions without relying on repetitive structures.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You used an adequate vocabulary range to complete the task, successfully communicating your message about housing. However, there are noticeable lexical errors in word choice, spelling, and word form that reflect a restricted range. For instance, you wrote 'currunt' instead of current, 'accomodation' with a spelling error, 'alot' as two words, and used awkward collocations such as 'making you fool' instead of 'fooling you' or 'tricked', and 'facelities are also not enoug'. You also attempted less common vocabulary, but these inaccuracies show a need for greater precision. To achieve a higher band, you must expand your lexical repertoire and control word formation and spelling more accurately.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

Your response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as when you combine clauses with conjunctions like 'because' and 'suppose if you want to visit'. There are some errors in grammar and punctuation, but they rarely impede communication. Examples of grammatical slips include tense inconsistencies and preposition errors, such as 'admission in my previous university' instead of 'admission to', 'on walking distance' instead of 'at a walking distance', and 'do not believe on the room' instead of 'in the room'. Additionally, punctuation and article usage need tighter control. To move up, you should aim for a higher proportion of error-free sentences while utilizing a wider variety of complex structures with greater accuracy.

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

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