Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-21

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 4.5)

Dear Ali,

I hope this letter finds you in good health and high spirit. I am writing this letter to give you some advice about hunting a place to live.

I graduated in masters of sports from Arid University Islamabad in 2023. I started my graduation in 2021. It was very challenging for me to find a place to live at the beginning, however after one week my friend suggested me to share a room with him. After that, I lived with him for two years. This room is in a beautifull and tall building, which located approximately 1 km away from our university.

I would like to suggest you, you should use your student card to get a discount on flat rent, transport tickets, medical, and grocery items, whenever you will get a scholership card. It has been offering by Arid university for all the students, who get above then 80% marks.

I also Inform you about card usage. Every month, you got a vochure token

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.5

You begin appropriately and give relevant background about your student accommodation: you shared a room with a friend in a building about one kilometre from the university. However, the response does not clearly fulfil the other two requested purposes. The suggestion to use a scholarship card for discounts is not a clear method for searching for accommodation, and the final paragraph stops before explaining the voucher token. You also do not warn Ali about mistakes to avoid when choosing a place. As a result, the email addresses the task only partially, and its advice is limited and under-developed. To improve, give a practical search method, such as contacting the university housing office or checking trusted student groups, then explain specific pitfalls like signing without viewing the room or checking bills and transport links.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

The response has a basic sequence: an opening, your own housing experience, a recommendation, and a final attempt to add information. Linking expressions such as “however” and “After that” help show the order of events. Nevertheless, the progression becomes unclear when the advice shifts from finding accommodation to student-card discounts, and the final sentence is unfinished, leaving the reader unsure what the voucher token is for. Paragraphing separates the main topics, but the ideas within the advice section are not connected into a complete explanation. Organise the email around the three requested points, using one paragraph for each, and make sure each paragraph develops a complete idea before moving on.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “share a room,” “flat rent,” “transport tickets,” and “scholarship card.” These choices make the general subject understandable. However, the range is limited and several word-choice, collocation, and spelling problems reduce naturalness, such as “hunting a place to live,” “high spirit,” “beautifull,” “scholership,” and “vochure token.” Some expressions are also imprecise: “graduated in masters of sports” does not clearly name your qualification. Aim for familiar, accurate phrases such as “looking for accommodation,” “in good spirits,” and “student accommodation office.” Proofread spelling and choose wording that directly expresses the advice you intend to give.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more extended sentences, for example the sentence beginning “It was very challenging for me to find a place to live…” and the relative clause describing the building. However, errors in sentence construction and verb forms are frequent enough to make parts of the advice difficult to follow. Examples include “my friend suggested me to share” (the verb pattern should be “suggested that I share”), “which located” (a verb is missing), and “whenever you will get” (the future form is not appropriate after “whenever”). The final sentence, “Every month, you got a vochure token,” also shifts tense and is incomplete in meaning. Practise accurate verb patterns and complete sentences, then check tense consistency and punctuation.

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

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