You live in a flat and you have a tenancy agreement which states that you must give three months' notice when you wish to leave. You have paid a deposit of two months' rent. Now a member of your family has a problem and you need to give up your flat and return home as soon as possible. Write a letter to your landlord /landlady. In your letter: - explain your circumstances - tell him/her what you intend to do - ask him/her for special consideration
Sample Response
Dear Mr Milan, I am a tenant of your apartment D#4 in Birmingham Garden street. I am writing to ask a favour from you due to a family emergency and I need to vacate your flat next month - 30th June 2025, to be exact. I have signed an agreement while moving into your flat which bounds me to notify you three months prior to empty the flat. I have always respected the contract and paid my rent on time. During my 11 months' stay at your falt, I have never asked your favour but this time I am relying on your kind consideration. My elder brother, who looks after our family business, has been diagnosed with a serious disease and has been transferred to a hospital in Manhattan. My family needs me to look after the business and be with them right now. The circumstance has forced me to give up the training programme that I am pursuing and return home immediately. I have decided to leave England and return to my home country on 2nd June 2025. I, therefore, request you to consider my situation and permit me to vacate your flat on a month's notice. I have already paid two month's rent in advance and would request you to return me a month's rent which is £750. I have always known you as a benevolent person and would not have requested your favour otherwise. Yours sincerely, David Sergel
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use the correct verb Original: bounds Suggested revision: requires Why it matters: 'Requires' correctly expresses the obligation stated in the tenancy agreement.
- 2. Use a gerund Original: prior to empty Suggested revision: before vacating Why it matters: A gerund is required after the preposition when referring to leaving the flat.
- 3. Form the compound adjective Original: 11 months' stay Suggested revision: 11-month stay Why it matters: A singular hyphenated measurement is needed before the noun 'stay'.
- 4. Correct the spelling Original: falt Suggested revision: flat Why it matters: The word 'flat' is misspelled.
- 5. Add the preposition Original: asked your favour Suggested revision: asked you for a favour Why it matters: The verb pattern is 'ask someone for a favour'.
- 6. Use a natural reference Original: The circumstance Suggested revision: This situation Why it matters: 'This situation' naturally refers to the family emergency just described.
- 7. Identify the deposit Original: paid two month's rent in advance Suggested revision: paid a deposit equal to two months' rent Why it matters: The task states that this money was a deposit, not rent paid in advance.
- 8. Use refund wording Original: return me a month's rent Suggested revision: refund one month's rent to me Why it matters: 'Refund' is the appropriate verb for requesting repayment of money.
- 9. Match the property term Original: apartment D#4 Suggested revision: flat D4 Why it matters: Using 'flat' keeps the property term consistent and presents the unit number naturally.
- 10. Capitalise the street name Original: street Suggested revision: Street Why it matters: 'Street' is part of the proper address and should be capitalised.
- 11. Use past simple Original: I have signed Suggested revision: I signed Why it matters: The completed signing occurred when the tenancy began, so the past simple is appropriate.
- 12. Clarify the time clause Original: while moving into Suggested revision: when I moved into Why it matters: The finite clause clearly links signing the agreement to moving into the flat.
Suggested Rewrites
- bounds requires
- prior to empty before vacating
- 11 months' stay 11-month stay
- falt flat
- asked your favour asked you for a favour
- The circumstance This situation
Why this response received Band 7.0
The response’s strongest feature is a clear, persuasive explanation of the family emergency and a courteous request for early release from the tenancy. Its main weakness is precision: the departure and vacation dates conflict, and several grammar and collocation errors weaken otherwise strong formal language; the priority is to reconcile the timeline and proofread verb patterns, possessives, and request constructions.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Detailed feedback by IELTS writing criterion after the annotated essay.
Task Achievement
The purpose is clear, all three bullet points are developed, and the respectful request for special consideration is persuasive.
Resolve the conflicting June departure and vacation dates and explain the requested treatment of the deposit more precisely.
Coherence and Cohesion
The letter follows a clear progression from the request through its justification to the proposed arrangement, with effective linking.
Use separate paragraphs for the opening request, family circumstances, and requested financial arrangement to sharpen the structure.
Lexical Resource
The response uses a good range of formal and topic-specific vocabulary, though several collocations and word forms are inaccurate.
Use more natural forms such as “ask you for a favour,” “requires me,” and “refund one month’s rent.”
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Complex sentences are attempted successfully, but recurring errors in verb patterns, possessives, and complementation reduce accuracy.
Proofread structures following verbs and prepositions, especially “requires me to give notice” and “prior to vacating the flat.”
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You live in a flat and you have a tenancy agreement which states that you must give three months' notice when you wish to leave. You have paid a deposit of two months' rent. Now a member of your family has a problem and you need to give up your flat and return home as soon as possible. Write a letter to your landlord /landlady. In your letter:
- explain your circumstances
- tell him/her what you intend to do
- ask him/her for special consideration
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.