Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-11-02

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 5.5)

Dear Aman,

I write is email to inform you how can you find a good and affordable price house for your self near university.when i was student at your university that time i live in that apartmemt which provided by university for international students, but that was so expensive.

There are alot of ways to find rental rooms such as marketplace, some websits and our university also provide accommodation. you should look at marketplace for room because there are alot of options in less rent because as an student you work parttime and need to pay fees so you should go with less rent place but you room should be private then you can study without distarbance.

Mostly student find sharing rooms but in sharing they need to audjust alot and some time both roommates have saprate routine so they feel disturbe and some time student find very expencive accommodation which is hard for a student to afford.

I hope this will help you to find a good and happy home for you thank you.

Mehakpreet.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address all three requested points: you describe university-provided accommodation, recommend searching on the marketplace, and warn about shared rooms and expensive rent. The advice is relevant, and the friendly closing suits an email to a friend. However, the description of where you lived is brief, and the recommendation is not fully clear: you mention several search options, then favour the marketplace without explaining how to check listings or choose a suitable place. The warning also focuses mainly on inconvenience and cost rather than specific mistakes, such as failing to inspect a room or confirm what rent includes. Develop these points with practical details and make your advice more precise to strengthen the response.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable email structure, moving from your own experience to accommodation options, a warning, and a closing. This gives the reader a basic sense of organisation. However, the main body is presented in long blocks, and several ideas are joined together with repeated “because” and “and,” so the progression can feel crowded rather than clearly guided. For example, the marketplace recommendation, affordability, and need for a private room appear in one extended sentence. Separate the three task points into clearer paragraphs and use a few accurate linking phrases to show how each idea relates to the next. This would make the advice easier to follow without relying on repeated connectors.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough everyday vocabulary to communicate the main advice, including “accommodation,” “marketplace,” “private,” and “disturbance.” However, the range is limited and some word choices or forms are inaccurate, which makes parts of the email less natural. Phrases such as “affordable price house,” “less rent,” and “happy home” do not express the ideas idiomatically; “affordable accommodation,” “lower rent,” and “comfortable place to live” would be clearer. Spelling errors such as “apartmemt,” “websits,” and “expencive” are also noticeable. Build a small set of accurate phrases for housing and rental advice, and check spelling and word forms before submitting.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response communicates its basic meaning, but it relies heavily on simple sentence patterns and several long sentences that attempt to connect multiple ideas. There are frequent errors in verb forms, articles, agreement, and sentence boundaries. For example, “I write is email” and “when i was student … i live” need more accurate forms, such as “I am writing this email” and “when I was a student … I lived.” The sentence beginning “you should look at marketplace” also needs clearer punctuation or division into shorter sentences. Practise past-tense narration and complete sentence patterns, then proofread for capitalisation and punctuation. More accurate control of these basics would make your advice easier to read.

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

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