You have a friend who lives in a city abroad. You have decided that you would like to apply to do a course at one of the colleges in that city. Write to your friend explaining what you would like to do. In your letter: - tell him/her of your plans - tell him/her what type of work or studies you have been doing recently - ask for help in contacting a college.
Sample Response
Dear Guri,
How are you? It’s been a long since we’ve talked with each other. You will be thrilled to get the news that I have made a plan to do a course at one of the colleges in London.
Let me tell you that I have decided to do a degree in special education. I got to know from my professor that it has a great scope overseas. Also, I would be able to work in special schools, and this practical experience will be helpful for me to secure employment there.
Furthermore, I have been teaching psychology in a school. Although my job is not round the clock, the rest of the day, particularly evenings, I do help to improve my community by taking part in an awareness programme.
Would you be kind enough to supply me required information about the best colleges? In addition, it would be great if you could help me in locating a college which provides scholarships to the students. You have a better understanding of the place and can also assist me in reserving my place for accommodation in University Halls.
Eagerly waiting for your reply.
Yours Loving,
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Missing time noun Original: It’s been a long Suggested revision: It’s been a long time Why it matters: The expression requires the noun “time” after “a long.”
- 2. Use simple past Original: we’ve talked with each other Suggested revision: we talked Why it matters: Use the simple past after “since” to identify the last conversation.
- 3. Natural news collocation Original: to get the news Suggested revision: to hear Why it matters: “Thrilled to hear” is the natural expression for receiving news.
- 4. Use concise phrasing Original: made a plan to do a course Suggested revision: decided to take a course Why it matters: This is a more natural and direct way to describe the plan.
- 5. Correct degree collocation Original: do Suggested revision: pursue Why it matters: English speakers pursue or study for a degree rather than do one.
- 6. Clarify career prospects Original: it has a great scope overseas Suggested revision: the field has excellent prospects overseas Why it matters: “Scope” is unnatural here, while “prospects” clearly expresses employment potential.
- 7. Use future form Original: would Suggested revision: will Why it matters: The writer is describing an expected future benefit of the planned degree.
- 8. Natural place preposition Original: in Suggested revision: at Why it matters: “At a school” is the more natural choice when naming a workplace.
- 9. Clarify working hours Original: not round the clock Suggested revision: not full-time Why it matters: “Round the clock” normally means continuously for twenty-four hours and is unsuitable here.
- 10. Add required prepositions Original: the rest of the day, particularly evenings Suggested revision: during the rest of the day, particularly in the evenings Why it matters: The time expressions need “during” and “in” to fit the sentence grammatically.
- 11. Use direct wording Original: I do help to improve my community Suggested revision: I help my community Why it matters: The shorter phrase conveys the same activity more naturally.
- 12. Add preposition and article Original: supply me required information Suggested revision: supply me with the required information Why it matters: The verb pattern is “supply someone with something,” and the specified information needs “the.”
Suggested Rewrites
- It’s been a long It’s been a long time
- we’ve talked with each other we talked
- to get the news to hear
- made a plan to do a course decided to take a course
- do pursue
- it has a great scope overseas the field has excellent prospects overseas
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter addresses all three requests with a clear study plan, relevant background information, and specific questions for the friend. Its main limitation is uneven naturalness, as several collocations and the closing sound awkward or overly formal for a personal letter. The highest-priority improvement is to use more idiomatic phrasing and maintain a consistently friendly register throughout.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The purpose is clear, all three bullet points are developed, and the response provides relevant detail despite some inconsistency in the friendly register.
Use a natural informal closing and phrase the requests more conversationally to sustain an appropriate tone for a friend.
Coherence and Cohesion
The letter progresses logically through the plan, current work, and requests, with clear paragraphing and generally effective linking.
Reduce reliance on overt transitions such as Furthermore and In addition so that connections between ideas feel more natural.
Lexical Resource
A good range of topic-specific vocabulary conveys the plans and requests clearly, although several collocations are awkward or imprecise.
Replace phrases such as great scope, supply me required information, and reserving my place with more idiomatic alternatives.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response uses varied sentence structures successfully, but recurring article, preposition, and clause-construction errors reduce accuracy.
Review article and preposition use in longer sentences, especially around requests, locations, and descriptions of work or study.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You have a friend who lives in a city abroad. You have decided that you would like to apply to do a course at one of the colleges in that city. Write to your friend explaining what you would like to do. In your letter:
- tell him/her of your plans
- tell him/her what type of work or studies you have been doing recently
- ask for help in contacting a college.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.