You live in a university residence and have a problem with noise from a new campus restaurant that stays open until midnight. Write to the governor of the university. In your letter: - complain about the situation - explain why the noise is a problem - propose ways to reduce the noise
Sample Response
Dear Mr Muller,
I am Elena Shephard, a resident in the Brookbrain University residenceat the Brookbrain University Residential Area, writing to complain about the unbearable noiseunbearable noise and cacophony from a newly opened restaurant. I hope you will interveneI am hoping that you will intervene to resolve the problem.
The ceaseless noise problem from the newly opened restaurant has become so severe that it is causing us considerable distressgiving us mental trauma. I am very pleased to livepleased about living in this otherwise great and peaceful residential area, but the high-pitched noise and vehicle hornsnoise and honks from motor vehicles caused by activity around the restaurantgenerated due to the gathering at the restaurant have made residents' livesmade the life of the residents extremely difficult.
It has become such a big problem for us because this eatery remains open until midnighttill 2:00 in the morning from 9:00 a.m.starting from 9.00 AM, and it attracts large crowdsa large number of crowds every hour. Customers arrive by car and motorcycleThe customers bring cars and motorcycles and talk in front of the restaurant. Moreover, the restaurant managementauthority uses loudspeakers to play musicuses loudspeakers to listen to music throughout its opening hoursday and night. It affects our sleep, study and work since we can hardly concentrate or sleep when there is extreme noise around us.
To solve the problem, the campus authority needs to limit the restaurant's opening hours torestrict the canteen’s opening and closing hours between 11:00 AM and 9:00 PM. I suppose the restaurant authority should display signsput some signs to request guests not to sound their hornsnot to use any horns, and stop using the loud music altogether. We are hoping that you will ensureyou would make sure these steps are implemented to keep noise to an absolute minimumkeep the noise absolute minimum.
Thank you for your kind attention and initiatives in advance.
Sincerely yours,
Elena Shephard
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter's strongest feature is its complete and professionally organised complaint, with specific effects on sleep, study and work plus several practical remedies. Its main content flaw is that it changes the restaurant's stated midnight closing time to 2:00 a.m., while a few dramatic or awkward phrases reduce credibility. Prioritise strict consistency with the given situation, then present the noise sources and requested restrictions in precise, measured formal language.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
All three requirements are fully developed in an appropriate formal tone, but changing the supplied midnight closing time to 2:00 a.m. creates a significant factual inconsistency.
Keep the closing time at midnight and retain the specific explanation of disrupted sleep, study and work plus the practical proposals about hours, horns and music.
Coherence and Cohesion
The letter progresses clearly through purpose, description, effects and solutions, with each communicative function placed in a focused paragraph.
Tighten the two middle paragraphs by combining repeated references to the newly opened restaurant and linking each noise source directly to its effect.
Lexical Resource
A broad and generally precise formal range conveys the seriousness of the complaint, though some dramatic wording and awkward collocations reduce naturalness.
Prefer measured phrases such as 'persistent noise', 'vehicle horns', 'large crowds' and 'keep noise to an absolute minimum'.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A good variety of sentence structures is used with generally strong control, despite occasional article, preposition, modality and parallelism errors.
Use forms such as 'has made residents' lives difficult', 'hope that you will' and 'request guests not to sound their horns or play loud music'.
Write this task while it is fresh
Try the same task now. It helps you remember the feedback and write better next time.
IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You live in a university residence and have a problem with noise from a new campus restaurant that stays open until midnight. Write to the governor of the university. In your letter:
- complain about the situation
- explain why the noise is a problem
- propose ways to reduce the noise
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.