You are currently doing a diploma course at a college, but you need to take a week off during this course. Write a letter to the college Principal. In your letter: - give details of your course - explain why you need a week off - say what you want the Principal to do
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam,
My name is James Read, and I am currently attending a diploma course in hospitality managementthe hospitality management diploma course as a final-year studentas a final year student at your culinary collegeesteemed culinary institute. I am supposed to finish the course in four monthsin the next four months provided everything remains on scheduleif everything goes on schedule.
I am writing this letter to request some time off from this course from 14th of August to 20th20st of August as I need to leave townleave the town for a week in order to take my elderly, seriously ill auntseriously ill and old aunt to the capital city of our country immediately for better treatment. In additionBy the way, my aunt has neither children nor a husbanddoes not have any children or husband who could helpcould actually help her during this difficult situationthis kind of desperate situation. Of course, I tried to approach the course chairrespectable chairman of my course, but he referred me to you since he does not really have the authority to grant any leave to anyone at this critical and important stage of the course for such a long period.
Therefore, I would like to request you to ask the chairman of my course to consider my situation favourably and grant me leave for the stipulated period of time mentioned above. I will be very grateful for your considerationmuch obliged to your kindness.
Yours faithfully,
James Read
Why this response received Band 7.5
The letter clearly explains the course, the compassionate reason for the absence, and the action requested, using an appropriately formal tone and logical paragraphing. Its strongest feature is the detailed justification for the leave, but several expressions are overly wordy or unnatural. More concise phrasing, accurate ordinal forms, and more idiomatic collocations would improve precision and professional impact.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
All three bullet points are addressed with relevant detail, and the request and formal purpose remain clear throughout.
State the requested approval more directly rather than asking the Principal to ask the course chairman to grant it.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response is logically organised into clear functional paragraphs, with progression from course details to the reason and request.
Shorten the heavily extended middle paragraph so the key reason and supporting detail are easier to absorb.
Lexical Resource
There is a good range of formal vocabulary, but awkward collocations and redundant combinations reduce naturalness.
Replace phrases such as 'respectable chairman' and 'much obliged to your kindness' with concise, idiomatic formal language.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The writer uses varied complex structures with generally clear meaning, though several local errors and cumbersome constructions remain.
Correct forms such as '20st' and simplify long clauses to improve grammatical precision and readability.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You are currently doing a diploma course at a college, but you need to take a week off during this course. Write a letter to the college Principal. In your letter:
- give details of your course
- explain why you need a week off
- say what you want the Principal to do
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.