Your neighbours have recently written to you to complain about the noise from your houseflat. Write a letter to your neighbours. In your letter: - Explain the reason for the noise - Apologise for the noise - Describe what action you will take
Sample Response
Dear Mr and Mrs Williams, I am writing in regards to the complaint I have received from you recently. My sincere apology for the inconvenience and problem caused due to my actions and I assure you that I will be more careful in the future about it. I started learning the piano recently. As you may know, I work full-time and the only free time I am able to dedicate to my classes is weekends. I have hired a piano teacher to teach me during the weekends and I am sorry that the noise reached your flat. I am sorry about the inconvenience I caused to you and Mrs Williamds. I did not expect the sound of my piano to be so loud and reach your rooms. I totally understand your position and request you to accept my sincere apologies. As a solution, I have decided that I will continue my piano classes at my tutor’s house instead of mine. This way I would be able to continue my practice and not disrupt you. I hope this unpleasant situation hasn’t hurt our friendship. Yours sincerely, Alfred Harris
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use correct phrase Original: in regards to Suggested revision: regarding Why it matters: Regarding is the concise standard expression in this formal opening.
- 2. Make wording concise Original: complaint I have received from you recently Suggested revision: recent complaint I received from you Why it matters: This revision places recent clearly with complaint and removes unnecessary words.
- 3. Fix time preposition Original: during the weekends Suggested revision: at weekends Why it matters: At weekends is the natural prepositional phrase for recurring weekend activity.
- 4. Describe the impact Original: the noise reached your flat Suggested revision: the noise disturbed you Why it matters: This wording directly states the effect of the noise on the neighbours.
- 5. Remove wrong preposition Original: inconvenience I caused to you Suggested revision: inconvenience I caused you Why it matters: Cause takes the affected person directly here without the preposition to.
- 6. Correct the surname Original: Williamds Suggested revision: Williams Why it matters: The neighbour's surname is misspelled.
- 7. Use concise wording Original: the sound of my piano Suggested revision: my piano Why it matters: The shorter phrase preserves the meaning and avoids unnecessary wording.
- 8. Use natural expression Original: reach your rooms Suggested revision: be heard in your home Why it matters: Noise is naturally described as being heard rather than reaching rooms.
- 9. Fix verb pattern Original: request Suggested revision: ask Why it matters: Ask someone to do something is the natural verb pattern in this sentence.
- 10. Introduce action directly Original: As a solution Suggested revision: To resolve this Why it matters: This transition directly links the proposed action to the noise problem.
- 11. Use concise structure Original: I have decided that I will continue my piano classes Suggested revision: I have decided to continue my piano lessons Why it matters: Decided to is a more concise structure, and lessons fits instruction with a tutor.
- 12. Keep structure parallel Original: at my tutor’s house instead of mine Suggested revision: at my tutor’s house rather than at mine Why it matters: Repeating the preposition makes the comparison grammatically parallel.
Suggested Rewrites
- in regards to regarding
- complaint I have received from you recently recent complaint I received from you
- during the weekends at weekends
- the noise reached your flat the noise disturbed you
- inconvenience I caused to you inconvenience I caused you
- Williamds Williams
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter fully explains the source of the noise, offers a sincere apology, and proposes a convincing solution, all in a considerate tone. Its main limitation is presentation and language polish: the response is not divided into functional paragraphs, and several phrases are awkward or inaccurate. The highest priority is to organise the content into clear letter paragraphs and edit collocations and sentence structures for greater precision.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The response directly and fully addresses the reason, apology, and future action while maintaining an appropriately considerate tone.
Make the proposed action even more definite by stating when lessons at the tutor's house will begin.
Coherence and Cohesion
The information follows a logical sequence, but presenting the entire letter as one paragraph weakens its organisation.
Separate the opening, explanation and apology, solution, and closing into clear functional paragraphs.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary shows good range and conveys the situation effectively, despite a few awkward collocations and one spelling error.
Use more natural phrases such as writing regarding your complaint and the sound carried into your flat, and proofread names carefully.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Complex and simple structures are generally well controlled, though a sentence fragment and several preposition or modality choices reduce accuracy.
Rewrite My sincere apology as a complete clause and use on weekends and will be able where those meanings are intended.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
Your neighbours have recently written to you to complain about the noise from your houseflat. Write a letter to your neighbours. In your letter:
- Explain the reason for the noise
- Apologise for the noise
- Describe what action you will take
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.