Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

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

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 Ruthie,

I hope you are doing well. I have missed you dearly. Congratulations on your admission to my alma mater and being a step closer to your deams. I am super proud of you! While I was a student at Mcgreggory University, I stayed with a cousin who lived very close to the school, she was in her final semester. It was a single room, self contain with about fifteen flats.

I know that the search for accomodation can be very daunting and stressful but I would advise that you join forums of newly admitted students and watchout for information on vacancies which are always posted. You can also make inquiry from other students on the forum so the can reach out to you if they are aware of any availability.

There are few things I would like you to be aware of when choosing an accommodation; ensure you ask for the amount of utility bills to be sure it is a good tariff with no hidden cost because some students end up paying expensive bills than budgetted. Also, ensure you choose an apartment with a good and peaceful environment.

I would also reach out to my old colleaques and let you know if I'm informed of any vacancy.

All the best,

Tayo

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You address all three points in a friendly, appropriate email. You explain that you stayed with a cousin near the university, recommend using forums for newly admitted students and asking other students about vacancies, and warn Ruthie about utility costs and the surrounding environment. These details make the advice relevant and personal. The accommodation description is somewhat unclear, however: “a single room, self contain with about fifteen flats” does not explain whether the room was in a larger building or what the fifteen flats refer to. The warning about choosing a peaceful environment is also brief and could be supported with a specific risk or example. More precise description and fuller development of these points would make the response more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The email has a clear overall arrangement: a warm opening, a paragraph about your former accommodation and search advice, a warning paragraph, and a friendly closing. The sequence follows the task naturally, and phrases such as “Also” and “I would also” help connect related advice. Some links between ideas are less smooth. The sentence beginning “While I was a student” runs together two independent ideas with a comma, and the transition from describing your cousin’s room to recommending forums could be clearer. The final offer to contact former colleagues is relevant but feels slightly detached from the preceding advice. Use clearer sentence boundaries and connect this offer explicitly to your recommendation to improve progression.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range for a personal email, including relevant terms such as “accommodation,” “vacancies,” “utility bills,” and “hidden cost.” The warm expressions “missed you dearly” and “super proud of you” suit the relationship, while “daunting and stressful” conveys the difficulty of searching. However, several spelling and word-choice errors reduce accuracy, including “deams,” “accomodation,” “watchout,” and “budgetted.” Some phrases are also imprecise or unnatural: “a good tariff” is not the clearest way to describe affordable bills, and “single room, self contain” is unclear. Check spelling carefully and choose more precise housing-related collocations to make your advice sound more natural.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and more complex sentence forms, and most of the message remains easy to understand. For example, “I know that the search for accommodation can be very daunting and stressful but I would advise that you join forums” combines a dependent clause with advice effectively. Some grammatical errors remain. In “I stayed with a cousin who lived very close to the school, she was in her final semester,” a comma joins two complete clauses; use a full stop or a conjunction. “So the can reach out” also needs a clear subject, such as “so they can reach out,” and “There are few things” would normally be “There are a few things.” Review sentence boundaries, articles, and pronoun forms to improve accuracy.

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

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