You are going on a short training course at a college in Greenmount, Northern Ireland. You need somewhere to live while you are there. Write a letter to the accommodation officer at the college. In your letter: - explain your situation - describe the accommodation you require - say when you will need it
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam, I am writing to inquirewriting this letter to inquire about accommodation available to course participantsthe accommodation you offer for the training participants at your college. I am looking for a single room and am hopingI am looking for a single room and hoping that you can arrange one for me for the duration of my trainingduring my training. I will attendI will take part in the course entitledthe training course titled 'Persuasive Communication for Technology Professionals' at your college from July to September 2025from July 2025 to September 2025. To successfully complete the course, I would like to stay nearby. Hence, I would request you to arrange accommodationa living place for me. I would like a single room that I would not need to share with a roommate. Besides, I prefer an attached bathroom and reliable hot-water facilitiesthe facilities of hot water. Finally, the room should be large enough and fully furnished. The course will start on 3rd July 2025 and I would be thankful if you could find me a place to stayfind me a place to stay in during my three-month-long training course. I would be grateful for your help. Yours faithfully, Ms K Zona
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter clearly explains the three-month training course, specifies the exact start date, and gives a detailed accommodation request covering privacy, bathroom facilities, hot water, furnishings, and room size. Its strongest feature is complete, practical task coverage in a polite tone. The main limitation is repetition and a few unnatural collocations; prioritise more concise accommodation language and group the dates and requirements into distinct paragraphs.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
All three bullet points are fully developed with clear course details, precise accommodation preferences, and an exact start date and duration.
Clarify whether the room is needed from 3 July until the end of September and mention any budget or location preference if relevant.
Coherence and Cohesion
The request progresses logically from the situation to room requirements and dates, although some information is repeated.
Use one paragraph for the course and dates and another for the room specifications, avoiding repeated requests to arrange accommodation.
Lexical Resource
Relevant accommodation vocabulary is used effectively, but a few expressions such as 'living place' and 'facilities of hot water' are unnatural.
Use 'accommodation', 'a private single room', 'an en-suite bathroom', and 'reliable hot water'.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Sentence structures are varied and generally accurate, with only occasional non-impeding problems in complementation and prepositions.
Prefer forms such as 'I hope you can arrange one' and 'a place to stay during my three-month course'.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You are going on a short training course at a college in Greenmount, Northern Ireland. You need somewhere to live while you are there. Write a letter to the accommodation officer at the college. In your letter:
- explain your situation
- describe the accommodation you require
- say when you will need it
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.