Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-11-03

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 Ahmad,

I hope this letter finds you well, and I am very excited that you have enrolled in a course in my university. I am writing to suggest you an affordable accommodation near the university.

I lived in a government hostel of the university which was a memorable experience. The hostel has it's own mess, study room along with playground, where we used to play cricket.

I will suggest you to submit hostel accommodation documents on time, so you will get a room in a government hostel, while temporarily you can live in private hostel "sky stars" which has peaceful environment for study.

Many students failed to submit their documents in due time for government hostel accommodation, due to which they were ineligible for allotment and they lived in private hostels which was a very miserable place to live.

I hope you will act on my advice and get yourself prepared for new experience.

Yours sincerely,

Asad

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You address all three requested points: you describe the university hostel and its facilities, advise Ahmad to apply on time, and warn about the consequences of missing the deadline. The details about the mess, study room and playground make the description relevant, while the example of students becoming ineligible gives the warning some support. The recommendation is less fully developed, however: you mention a temporary private hostel but do not explain how Ahmad should find or assess accommodation, such as checking university housing services or visiting before paying. The claim that private hostels are “a very miserable place” is also broad and not clearly tied to the named option. More specific, balanced advice would strengthen the response.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The email has a clear overall sequence: greeting and purpose, your own accommodation, advice, a warning, and a closing. This makes the main message easy to follow, and links such as “while” and “due to which” show an attempt to connect ideas. Some connections are less precise: “while temporarily” does not clearly show how the private hostel relates to applying for university housing, and the warning repeats the point about late documents without adding much explanation. Paragraphing would also help distinguish your experience, practical recommendation and caution. A clearer progression, with each paragraph focused on one task point and more exact linking, would make the organisation feel more flexible and polished.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

Your vocabulary is adequate for the purpose and includes relevant terms such as “government hostel,” “accommodation,” “allotment” and “peaceful environment.” These help communicate practical advice, and the reader can understand your main points. There are some inaccurate or unnatural choices, however: “suggest you an affordable accommodation” is not a natural collocation, “submit hostel accommodation documents” is vague, and “a very miserable place to live” is an imprecise generalisation. “Enrolled in a course in my university” also sounds less natural than a more direct expression. Aim for precise, natural phrases for applying, searching and checking accommodation, while avoiding overly strong descriptions unless you can support them.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and more complex sentences, including the relative clause in “which has peaceful environment for study” and the cause-and-effect construction beginning “Many students failed…”. The message remains understandable, but some grammatical errors occur. For example, “it's own” should be “its own,” “I will suggest you to submit” needs a different verb pattern, and “a peaceful environment” requires an article. The sentence about the hostel’s facilities also needs clearer parallel structure, while “in a due time” is not correctly formed. Review verb patterns after “suggest,” articles, possessives and sentence punctuation. More accurate control of these forms would make your advice smoother without requiring more complicated sentences.

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