Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-11

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 Amrinder,

I hope you are well, and I heard you are also taking the same university where i was studied, and you need accommodation to live.

Firstly, I did not live in the university apartment because the rent was too high. I lived with my friend in a three-bedroom house, with a cosy living area and kitchen. This is a house that is around a 15-minute walk from campus.

Secondly, if you need a place to live, you can easily find a shared room on the Marketplace on Facebook. You can see the pictures of the rooms and also the contact number, which helps you to know the rent and how far from the campus.

One major mistake students often make while choosing the accommodation is renting the place based on the online pictures rather than visiting the place, which may lead to hidden problems.

Let me know if you want to see any listings with you.

Best regards,

Kulveer

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You address all three requested points: you describe sharing a three-bedroom house near campus, recommend Facebook Marketplace, and warn against choosing a property from online pictures alone. These details make the advice relevant and practical. The description of your former accommodation is clear, but the recommendation could be more fully explained—for example, how to compare listings or verify that a room is available. The warning identifies one sensible risk, though adding other common mistakes, such as overlooking bills or signing without checking the agreement, would develop this point. The friendly opening and closing suit an email to a friend. Overall, the task is covered, but some ideas are less developed than others.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The email has a clear overall sequence: you introduce the situation, describe your housing, offer a search method, give a warning, and close. Paragraphing helps the reader distinguish these points, and signposting with “Firstly” and “Secondly” makes the progression easy to follow. However, these transitions feel somewhat mechanical for a personal email, and the final offer, “Let me know if you want to see any listings with you,” is not entirely clear about who will do what. A more natural link between the accommodation description and your recommendation, along with clearer referencing in the closing, would make the cohesion more flexible and polished.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

Your vocabulary is adequate for the task and includes useful descriptive language such as “three-bedroom house,” “cosy living area,” and “hidden problems.” The wording is generally understandable, and the tone is appropriately friendly. However, some choices are imprecise or unnatural, including “taking the same university” and “a shared room on the Marketplace on Facebook.” “Contact number” is also less suitable if you mean the details for contacting a landlord or advertiser. These choices do not prevent understanding, but they limit precision and naturalness. Aim for more idiomatic phrases such as “attending the same university,” “find a room in a shared house,” and “contact details.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple sentences and longer structures, including the relative clause “which helps you to know the rent” and the warning clause beginning “which may lead to hidden problems.” Most of the message remains easy to understand, but some grammatical errors are noticeable. For example, “where i was studied” has an incorrect verb construction, and “you are also taking the same university” does not use the appropriate grammatical pattern. In “how far from the campus,” the question of distance is not expressed as a complete clause. Capitalise “I” consistently, and practise verb patterns such as “where I studied” and “you are attending the same university.” More accurate complex sentences would strengthen control.

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

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