Your company is going to give a special training course for staff. Your manager has asked you to find out if the local conference centre has the right facilities to hold this course. Write a letter to the manager of the conference centre. In your letter: - Give details about the course - Describe what equipment you will need for the course - Ask some further questions about the facilities at the conference centre
Sample Response
Dear Sir/ Madam,
I am from SHG Company, which specializes in organising PR events. We are holding a training course for our staff at the end of this month and I want to inquire if your center has the right facilities for the course.
The main focus of the course is to provide information about different marketing strategies and how to employ them effectively. The participants are required to work in groups and to plan a PR campaign before presenting it to the whole company. For this course, we need about 150 seats for the participants, a good lighting and sound system, as well as a high-quality projector for the presentation.
I also wonder if your center provides a catering service? We will have a lunch break during the event and we need to prepare a small buffet for 150 attendants. In addition, I want to make sure there is enough space in the parking lot to accommodate about 100 cars.
Thank you and I am looking forward to hearing back from you.
Yours sincerely,
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Correct formal salutation Original: Dear Sir/ Madam, Suggested revision: Dear Sir or Madam, Why it matters: Use the conventional punctuation and wording for an unnamed recipient.
- 2. Use formal enquiry phrase Original: if Suggested revision: whether Why it matters: Whether is more precise and formal when introducing an indirect question.
- 3. Clarify the reference Original: before presenting it to the whole company Suggested revision: before presenting their campaigns to the whole company Why it matters: The plural wording makes it clear what the participant groups will present.
- 4. Correct article use Original: a good lighting and sound system Suggested revision: good lighting and a sound system Why it matters: Lighting is uncountable here, while sound system needs an article.
- 5. Improve the collocation Original: prepare Suggested revision: provide Why it matters: Provide is the natural verb for arranging food for event participants.
- 6. Choose the right noun Original: attendants Suggested revision: attendees Why it matters: Attendees means people at an event, whereas attendants usually provide a service.
- 7. Match the sign-off Original: sincerely Suggested revision: faithfully Why it matters: Use Yours faithfully when the recipient is addressed without a name.
- 8. Sentence rewrite Original: I also wonder if your center provides a catering service? Suggested revision: Could you please confirm whether your center provides a catering service? Why it matters: A direct polite question avoids the incorrect question mark after an indirect statement.
- 9. Sentence rewrite Original: Thank you and I am looking forward to hearing back from you. Suggested revision: Thank you for your assistance. I look forward to hearing from you. Why it matters: Separating the thanks from the closing expectation creates a smoother formal ending.
- 10. Specify the course schedule Suggested revision: Add the exact course date, start and finish times, or duration. Why it matters: The conference manager needs a more precise schedule to judge whether the facilities are available.
Suggested Rewrites
- Dear Sir/ Madam, Dear Sir or Madam,
- if whether
- before presenting it to the whole company before presenting their campaigns to the whole company
- a good lighting and sound system good lighting and a sound system
- prepare provide
- attendants attendees
Why this response received Band 7.5
The letter is clear, appropriately formal, and fully addresses the course, equipment, and facility-enquiry requirements with relevant practical details. Its main limitation is a small number of awkward grammatical and collocational choices, especially around countability and indirect questions. The highest-priority improvement is to polish these localised language errors while retaining the direct, well-organised structure.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The purpose is immediately clear, all three bullet points are covered, and the requested details are relevant and sufficiently developed.
Make the facility questions slightly more specific by asking about matters such as catering cost or parking availability.
Coherence and Cohesion
Information is arranged in purposeful paragraphs and progresses logically from the course to equipment and further facility questions.
Refine the closing transition so the final thanks and request for a response read more naturally.
Lexical Resource
A good range of topic-specific vocabulary, including marketing strategies, PR campaign, catering service, and accommodate, conveys the message precisely.
Improve collocational accuracy by using phrases such as good lighting and 150 attendees.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The letter uses varied complex structures with generally strong control, although a few localised errors remain.
Correct countability and question structure, for example good lighting rather than a good lighting and a statement-order indirect question after wonder.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
Your company is going to give a special training course for staff. Your manager has asked you to find out if the local conference centre has the right facilities to hold this course. Write a letter to the manager of the conference centre. In your letter:
- Give details about the course
- Describe what equipment you will need for the course
- Ask some further questions about the facilities at the conference centre
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.