Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-08

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 6.5)

Dear Daniel,

I hope you're doing well. I'm writing in response to your last letter in which you have asked about my sincere advice related to the accommodation during my studies in the university.

I'm glad to know that you got selected for Bachlors of Psychology in Univerity of Gujrat and you got an amazing scholarhip which would be benefical for you in a long run. As I remember when I was studying there, I lived in a hostel which is situated at the walking distance from the university as It is the best place with all the necessary facilities and proper security system. Additionally, there was a mess system which provides tempting food at affordable package but they only prefer early birds.

Beside that, there are some private flats which are within the university area and students get private or shared room according to their preferences. They provide equiped kitchen and laundry facilities. Before applying make sure to get all the required details to avoid any last-minute trouble.

Being your close friend, I would like make you aware about the mistakes which I have done while choosing my hostel and I want you to avoid them.Visit the official websites for further details and required documents which would save much time. Make sure that the residental place must be at walking distance from university which will save your time and additional commuting costs.

Best regards,

Alice.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You address all three requested points and maintain an appropriate, friendly email tone. The description of your hostel, its proximity, security and meal arrangements gives Daniel useful context, while the mention of private flats adds another option. You also advise checking official websites and choosing somewhere close to campus. However, the recommendation about how to search is not fully clear: “Visit the official websites” could specify which university or accommodation pages to use and how to compare options. The warning about mistakes is also less developed than the description; you refer to your own past mistakes but do not identify them clearly. Explain practical risks, such as booking without viewing a room or checking what fees are included, to make the advice more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The email has a clear overall shape: an opening, information about your former accommodation, advice about alternatives, and a closing. Paragraphing helps separate these purposes, and expressions such as “Additionally” and “Before applying” guide the reader through the details. This gives the message a coherent progression. Some links are less effective or slightly mechanical, however. “Beside that” does not clearly signal the relationship between the hostel and private flats, and the final paragraph moves from warning about mistakes to visiting websites without explaining the connection. The sentence beginning “Being your close friend” also combines several ideas abruptly. Use clearer transitions and keep each paragraph focused on one purpose to make the progression more natural.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range for a personal email, including relevant terms such as “hostel,” “shared room,” “security system,” and “laundry facilities.” Phrases like “affordable package” and “early birds” show an attempt to use more specific language, though some choices are not quite natural in this context. There are also spelling errors in words such as “Bachlors,” “Univerity,” “scholarhip,” “benefical,” “equiped,” and “residental.” These do not prevent the reader from understanding your advice, but they reduce accuracy and polish. Aim for more natural accommodation collocations and proofread carefully, especially for common words and university-related terms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and more complex sentence forms, including the relative clause in “a hostel which is situated…” and the conditional phrase “Before applying.” Most of the message remains understandable, and the errors rarely obstruct its meaning. Some grammatical patterns need closer control. For example, “you have asked” is less suitable than the past form “you asked” when referring to a previous letter, and “I would like make you aware” needs “to” before “make.” In “a mess system which provides,” the tense shifts from the past description to the present; keep the account consistently in the past. Review articles, verb forms, and punctuation around sentence boundaries to make your varied structures more accurate.

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