Advising a Friend on University Accommodation

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 ……………,

Annotated response

6 correction notes

Dear Lee,

I’m excited to learn from your letter that you’ve been offered a place at ! Congratulations! I'm sure you'll enjoy . However, finding the right place to live while you're a university student is important, so I’m glad you reached out for my advice.

I lived during my first year. It was a great way to meet new people and adjust to university life. Later, I moved into a shared house with friends, which was more affordable and gave me more independence.

For your search, I recommend starting with the university accommodation office since they often have , including on-campus and recommended private rentals. Websites like Rightmove, SpareRoom, and local Facebook groups are also useful for finding student houses and flats.

Be careful of common mistakes! Many students rush into signing a contract without fully checking the property. Make sure you view the place in person, check for hidden costs (like bills not being included), and read the rental agreement carefully before committing. Also, be wary of landlords who ask for large upfront deposits and always check if they are registered with a deposit protection scheme.

Let me know if you need more help, and best of luck with your move!

Warm wishes,

Jeremy

Overall assessment

Why this response received Band 7.5

The letter is friendly, well-organised, and covers all three bullet points with relevant, concrete detail such as halls of residence, recommended search channels, and contract-checking warnings. Its main limitation is that the language, while accurate and clear, is somewhat safe and could show more flexibility and precision to reach the highest bands.

IELTS criteria

How each score was decided

Task Achievement

8.0

The letter achieves its friendly purpose, covers all three bullet points fully, and develops each with specific, relevant detail in a consistently appropriate informal register.

Coherence and Cohesion

8.0

Ideas progress logically across clearly sequenced paragraphs with effective use of cohesive devices and referencing, giving a natural and coherent flow throughout.

Lexical Resource

7.0

Vocabulary is precise and appropriately informal, with good topic-specific items like 'halls of residence' and 'deposit protection scheme', though overall range is solid rather than highly flexible.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy

7.5

A wide range of sentence structures is used with strong control, including complex forms such as conditionals and relative clauses, with only rare minor slips.

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