You attended an interview with a company but are still waiting for the result. Write a letter to the manager of the HR department requesting information. In your letter: - describe the position you applied for - explain why you think the interview went well - explain why you need the result of the interview
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam,
My name is Jamie Ferguson, and I am writing to enquirewriting this letter to enquire about the status of my job application following the interviewjob application and interview.
I applied for the position of Management Trainee at your company, and my interview took place on 14th March. Unfortunately, I have not yet received a decisionhave not got any decision yet from your end, even though I was told that the human resourcesresource department would inform me about a decision on my application withinhiring decision on me within one week of the interview.
I am also contacting youcontacting you also because I believe II thought that I performed excellentlydid excellent in the interview. In particularAfter all, four interviewerspeople interviewedquizzed me for almost 30 minutes, and yet, I never stumbled oncefor once. At the end of my interview, they even told me that they were very impressed with my performance.
I need to know the outcome of my applicationresult of this interview because I will have to decide whetherdecide on whether or not to renew my apartment lease within the next week or move to another area. If I am offered the positionselected for the job, I will renew the leaserenew the rental lease.
So, I hope that you understand the urgency of my situation and be kind enough to let me know about a hiring decision on me at your earliest convenience.
Yours faithfully,
Jamie Ferguson
Why this response received Band 7.5
This is a purposeful, well-organised letter that covers the position, evidence of a successful interview, and the practical urgency of receiving a decision. The main limitation is recurring awkward or inaccurate phrasing, especially around the hiring decision and interview performance. The highest-priority improvement is to use more idiomatic professional collocations and correct forms such as 'did well' rather than 'did excellent'.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The letter clearly requests the result, fully covers every bullet point, and develops the lease-related urgency convincingly in a suitable formal tone.
Make the requested action even more precise by asking for the decision or a firm date by which it will be communicated.
Coherence and Cohesion
Focused paragraphs and a clear sequence from application details to interview evidence and urgency create strong overall progression.
Refine a few transitions, particularly 'I am contacting you also because' and 'So', to make the formal flow more seamless.
Lexical Resource
The vocabulary is sufficiently varied and appropriate for a formal enquiry, although several collocations sound unnatural.
Use idiomatic phrases such as 'receive a decision', 'performed well', and 'a decision on my application' instead of the awkward alternatives.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response uses a good range of complex structures, but noticeable errors in forms and clause construction recur without obscuring meaning.
Correct patterns such as 'did excellent' and 'never stumbled for once', and review verb-complement and preposition choices.
Write this task while it is fresh
Try the same task now. It helps you remember the feedback and write better next time.
IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You attended an interview with a company but are still waiting for the result. Write a letter to the manager of the HR department requesting information. In your letter:
- describe the position you applied for
- explain why you think the interview went well
- explain why you need the result of the interview
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.