Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-11-04

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 6.0)

Dear Emeka

Congratulations on your admission to the University. This is a great achievement for you, and I am so happy for you.

You know entring into the University has alot challengings that includes getting a good Accommodation.

When i was in the School i lived at 73 Owerri Road Ogui Layout, Enugu State.

The Challenge that I faced was that my house was 30 Kilometers away from the school, which caused me to attend lectures late and spend a lot of money on transportation.

The best way to get a look for accommodation is by going through an agent. The will guide you on how to go about it and where you will get a good accommodation because you need one that is not more than 5 minutes away from the school, with that, you will attend lectures on time, spend less on transportation.

Students makes a big mistakes by using their own hands when looking for an accommoadation and the end up falling into the hands of bad landlords, getting accommodation that is very far from the school or end up getting accommodation that lack the basic things.

So Emeka kindly follow my advise and you be happy that you did. Once again, congratulations.

Best Regards,

Okpaleke Kingsley.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

The email addresses all three required points and maintains a clear, friendly purpose. You describe your former accommodation and explain its main drawback: being 30 kilometres from campus led to lateness and transport costs. You also recommend using an agent and warn about distant properties, unreliable landlords and missing facilities. These details make the advice relevant and supported. However, the recommendation that accommodation should be “not more than 5 minutes away” is very specific and not explained, while the warning about students “using their own hands” is unclear. Explain what students should do instead of relying on an agent, and give a more practical distance or travel-time guideline to make the advice more fully developed.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The message follows a sensible sequence: congratulations, your own experience, a recommendation, a warning and a closing. This gives the reader a clear overall progression, and links such as “The Challenge that I faced” and “So Emeka” help connect the advice to the personal context. The main points are also grouped in a way that suits an informal email. To make the organisation more polished, separate the accommodation description, search advice and warning into distinct paragraphs. Some links are mechanical or unclear, particularly “with that” and “and the end up”; clearer transitions would show the relationship between ideas more naturally. The final advice could also refer back to the specific risks you have just described.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use vocabulary relevant to accommodation and student life, including “agent,” “landlords,” “transportation” and “basic things,” so the reader can understand the main advice. There are also attempts at more specific language, such as “attend lectures late.” However, the range is limited and several word choices or forms are inaccurate or unnatural: “entring into the University,” “alot challengings,” “a good Accommodation,” and “using their own hands.” Spelling errors such as “accommoadation” and “advise” also reduce accuracy. Choose familiar, precise expressions and check spelling and word forms. For example, “finding accommodation” is more natural than “getting a good accommodation,” and “searching independently” would clarify the warning.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response includes both simple sentences and attempts at longer structures, for example the sentence explaining that the distant house “caused me to attend lectures late and spend a lot of money.” Meaning is generally recoverable, but control is uneven. Errors include “The will guide you” instead of “They will guide you,” “Students makes” instead of “Students make,” and “you be happy” instead of “you will be happy.” Some sentences also combine several ideas without clear punctuation, especially the recommendation beginning “with that.” Use a wider range of accurately controlled sentence patterns, and check subject–verb agreement, pronouns and verb forms. Breaking long sentences into shorter units would also help punctuation and clarity.

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

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