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 this letter to inquire about the accommodation you offer for the training participants at your college. I am looking for a single room and hoping that you can arrange one for me during my training. I will take part in the training course titled 'Persuasive Communication for Technology Professionals' at your college from July 2025 to September 2025. To successfully complete the course, I would like to stay nearby. Hence, I would request you to arrange a 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 the 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 stay in during my three-month-long training course. I would be grateful for your help. Yours faithfully, Ms K Zona
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Make the opening concise Original: writing this letter to inquire Suggested revision: writing to inquire Why it matters: This letter is unnecessary because the format is already clear.
- 2. Clarify accommodation availability Original: the accommodation you offer for the training participants Suggested revision: accommodation available to course participants Why it matters: Available to course participants is a more natural and concise description.
- 3. Add the parallel verb Original: I am looking for a single room and hoping Suggested revision: I am looking for a single room and am hoping Why it matters: The second coordinated verb phrase needs am to remain parallel with am looking.
- 4. Clarify the full period Original: during my training Suggested revision: for the duration of my training Why it matters: This phrase makes clear that the room is needed throughout the course.
- 5. Use concise attendance wording Original: I will take part in Suggested revision: I will attend Why it matters: Attend expresses participation in the course more directly.
- 6. Use formal course wording Original: the training course titled Suggested revision: the course entitled Why it matters: Course entitled is a concise formal way to introduce its name.
- 7. Avoid repeating the year Original: from July 2025 to September 2025 Suggested revision: from July to September 2025 Why it matters: The shared year only needs to be stated once.
- 8. Use accommodation terminology Original: a living place Suggested revision: accommodation Why it matters: Accommodation is the appropriate formal term for a temporary place to live.
- 9. Fix the facility phrase Original: the facilities of hot water Suggested revision: reliable hot-water facilities Why it matters: The original prepositional construction is not idiomatic.
- 10. Remove stranded preposition Original: find me a place to stay in Suggested revision: find me a place to stay Why it matters: Stay does not require in when place is already its complement.
Suggested Rewrites
- writing this letter to inquire writing to inquire
- the accommodation you offer for the training participants accommodation available to course participants
- I am looking for a single room and hoping I am looking for a single room and am hoping
- during my training for the duration of my training
- I will take part in I will attend
- the training course titled the course entitled
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.