An annual event was recently held in your area. Write a letter to the organisers congratulating them on a successful production. In your letter: - give details of the event - mention what you liked most about the event - make a polite criticism of something that could be improved
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam, I am Elizabeth Conor, a local resident of Essex, writing to congratulate you for arranging a successful community meet-up programme this year. Many other residents whom I have talked to lately, feel the same. Your organisation deserves applause from all of us. Tenth March is a special day for the citizens of Essex. This day witnesses the largest gathering of local residents and the vote to elect some key members of the community makes it even more significant. Arranging the morning meeting, administering the successful voting, serving lunch to everyone and then finally letting members talk about their complaints and express compliments require an exceptional team of people and their hard work. You made this programme memorable and meaningful. I was quite amazed by the introduction of a software-based voting system that was instantaneous and flawless. Unlike the previous years, we did not have to wait for hours to learn the result. This was a great addition to the programme. Having said that, I would recommend some amusement facilities for children and volunteers to look after them so that parents can participate in the programme without looking over their shoulder. Thank you once again for a remarkable programme this year. We will remember this for many days to come. Yours faithfully, Elizabeth Conor
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Correct congratulate pattern Original: for Suggested revision: on Why it matters: The verb ‘congratulate’ takes ‘on’ before an achievement.
- 2. Remove subject comma Original: lately, feel Suggested revision: lately feel Why it matters: A comma must not separate the relative clause from its main verb.
- 3. Correct date form Original: Tenth March Suggested revision: The tenth of March Why it matters: An ordinal date used as the subject requires the article and ‘of’ in this form.
- 4. Use natural event verb Original: witnesses Suggested revision: marks Why it matters: ‘Marks’ is the natural verb for describing the significance of a date.
- 5. Use fitting praise verb Original: quite amazed by Suggested revision: particularly impressed by Why it matters: ‘Impressed’ more naturally expresses approval of the new system.
- 6. Correct comparison phrase Original: the Suggested revision: in Why it matters: The comparison concerns what happened in earlier years, so ‘in’ is required.
- 7. Clarify child provision Original: some amusement facilities for children Suggested revision: some supervised activities for children Why it matters: ‘Supervised activities’ states the proposed improvement more precisely than ‘amusement facilities’.
- 8. Correct supervision meaning Original: without looking over their shoulder Suggested revision: without having to supervise them Why it matters: ‘Looking over one’s shoulder’ means being anxious or watchful, not caring for children.
- 9. Use concise event term Original: community meet-up programme Suggested revision: community event Why it matters: This concise label matches the task and avoids the awkward combination ‘meet-up programme’.
- 10. Use formal speak phrase Original: talked Suggested revision: spoken Why it matters: ‘Spoken to’ is more natural in this formal letter.
- 11. Use plural results Original: result Suggested revision: results Why it matters: Several community positions were elected, so the plural better reflects the outcomes.
- 12. Specify the improvement Original: This was a great addition Suggested revision: This was a valuable improvement Why it matters: ‘Improvement’ directly connects the new system with the previous years’ slower process.
Suggested Rewrites
- for on
- lately, feel lately feel
- Tenth March The tenth of March
- witnesses marks
- quite amazed by particularly impressed by
- the in
Why this response received Band 7.5
The letter fully achieves its purpose, giving clear event details, praising the efficient electronic voting system, and offering a constructive childcare suggestion in a consistently respectful tone. Its main weakness is organisation: all content appears in one long body block, and a few collocations and grammatical details are awkward. The priority is to separate the event, praise, and recommendation into distinct paragraphs while retaining the specific supporting detail.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Detailed feedback by IELTS writing criterion after the annotated essay.
Task Achievement
All three bullet points are fully and specifically developed, and the congratulatory purpose and polite criticism are consistently appropriate for the organisers.
Make the suggested improvement even more actionable by briefly indicating where the children's facilities and supervising volunteers could be located.
Coherence and Cohesion
The message progresses logically from event details to praise and criticism, but placing the whole body in one paragraph weakens its visible organisation.
Give the event description, favourite feature, and improvement suggestion separate body paragraphs.
Lexical Resource
A flexible range conveys praise and constructive criticism precisely, although a few combinations such as 'express compliments' and 'remember this for many days' sound unnatural.
Use natural alternatives such as 'offer feedback and compliments' and 'remember the event for years to come.'
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A wide range of structures is used with strong control, while only occasional agreement, punctuation, and preposition errors occur.
Remove the comma separating the subject from 'feel,' and use 'requires' after the long singular gerund phrase beginning with 'Arranging.'
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
An annual event was recently held in your area. Write a letter to the organisers congratulating them on a successful production. In your letter:
- give details of the event
- mention what you liked most about the event
- make a polite criticism of something that could be improved
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.