Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-14

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 Sam,

Hi, how are you? I have received your letter and I'm very happy to hear that you are enrolled in my university and you want to take advice from me about accommodation.

When I was studying at the university I lived in downtown with my two friends in sharing in an apartment. It was good for me becuase we divided the rent in three parts and I was easily paid my expenses without any stress. Also, it was near from the univsersity and saved travel expenses.

There are several ways to find the accommodation such as Facebook Market Place and kijiji. Also, you can see on the noticeboard in the university campus because it provides accommodation facilities for new students.

Many students make mistakes when they find accommodation and they do not prefer to ask about utilities as well as parking space. I would suggest you to please ask the landlord whether utilities are included in the rent or not before moving there becuase these things create stress for students and they feel burden.

I hope you find my suggestions helpful. I wish you all the best for your new journey.

Best wishes,

Jagjit.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You address all three points and maintain an appropriate, friendly email tone. The description of sharing an apartment downtown with two friends explains the practical benefit of splitting rent, and you offer several places to search, including Facebook Marketplace, Kijiji and the campus noticeboard. Your warning about checking whether utilities are included is useful and relevant. The response meets the lower-band expectation of covering the task, while the detail about parking is only briefly introduced and not developed into a clear warning. To strengthen the advice, explain how to assess listings or verify a landlord, and give a specific example of a costly mistake. This would make the ideas more fully extended and supported.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The email is organised in a clear sequence: greeting, your own housing experience, search recommendations, a warning, and a friendly closing. Paragraphing helps the reader distinguish these parts, and linking expressions such as “Also” and “because” make relationships between ideas understandable. This gives the message a logical progression. Some connections are a little mechanical, however, particularly the repeated use of “Also,” and the transition from mentioning parking to focusing on utilities is not fully explained. You could make the advice flow more naturally by grouping related recommendations and using a wider range of links, such as “In addition” or “One thing to check is…”. Overall, the organisation is clear, with some room for more flexible cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough vocabulary to communicate the main advice, including relevant terms such as “rent,” “expenses,” “utilities,” “landlord” and “accommodation.” However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, which limits precision: “in sharing in an apartment,” “near from the university,” and “feel burden” do not sound idiomatic. There are also spelling errors, including “becuase” and “univsersity,” and the phrase “Facebook Market Place” should be written as “Facebook Marketplace.” Aim to learn common housing collocations and check spelling carefully. More precise expressions would make the message sound more natural while preserving its friendly tone.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple sentences and some longer structures, including “I would suggest you to please ask the landlord whether utilities are included in the rent or not before moving there.” Most sentences communicate the intended meaning, and the past-tense account of your student housing is generally understandable. Some grammatical errors remain, such as “I was easily paid my expenses,” the missing article in “in downtown,” and the construction “I would suggest you to ask,” which should be “I would suggest that you ask” or “I would advise you to ask.” There is also an awkward structure in “we divided the rent in three parts.” Practise accurate verb patterns, articles and prepositions, while continuing to use varied sentence forms.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.