You have seen an advertisement in an Australian magazine for someone to live with a family for six months and look after their six-year-old child. Write a letter to the parents. In your letter: - explain why you would like the job - give details of why you would be a suitable person to employ - say how you would spend your free time while you are in Australia
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam,
I am writing to express my interest in the position of "live-in caregiver" for your six-year-old child, as advertised in the Australian magazine. Spending six months with your family and looking after your child would be a wonderful opportunity for me, as I genuinely enjoy working with children and have experience in childcare.
I believe I am well-suited for this role because I have worked as a private tutor and babysitter for the past three years, helping young children with their studies and daily routines. I am responsible, patient, and creative, always ensuring that children under my care are both safe and engaged in meaningful activities. Additionally, I am proficient in cooking nutritious meals and maintaining a structured yet fun environment.
During my free time in Australia, I plan to explore the local culture, visit historical sites, and improve my English skills through interaction with native speakers.
I would love the opportunity to discuss this role further. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Yours faithfully,
Catherine Elaine
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Remove unnecessary quotes Original: position of "live-in caregiver" Suggested revision: position of live-in caregiver Why it matters: The role name does not need quotation marks in this formal application.
- 2. Use natural skill phrase Original: proficient in cooking nutritious meals Suggested revision: skilled at preparing nutritious meals Why it matters: The suggested collocation sounds more natural while preserving the claimed ability.
- 3. Refine formal register Original: fun Suggested revision: enjoyable Why it matters: “Enjoyable” is slightly more precise and formal than “fun” in an application letter.
- 4. Use direct verb form Original: through interaction with native speakers Suggested revision: by interacting with native speakers Why it matters: The active gerund phrase expresses the method more directly and naturally.
- 5. Use formal closing Original: love Suggested revision: welcome Why it matters: “Would welcome” maintains enthusiasm in a more professional register.
- 6. Sentence rewrite Original: Spending six months with your family and looking after your child would be a wonderful opportunity for me, as I genuinely enjoy working with children and have experience in childcare. Suggested revision: This six-month placement would allow me to combine my genuine enjoyment of working with children with my practical childcare experience. Why it matters: The rewrite makes the existing motivation more specific and directly relevant to the advertised placement.
- 7. Strengthen suitability evidence Suggested revision: Connect the tutoring or babysitting experience to one age-appropriate duty already mentioned, such as study support, routines, or engaging activities. Why it matters: A concrete link between prior experience and caring for this child would make the suitability claim more persuasive.
- 8. Develop free-time plans Suggested revision: Briefly indicate that the cultural visits and language practice would be arranged around the family’s childcare schedule. Why it matters: This would show that the free-time plan is compatible with the live-in caregiving commitment.
Suggested Rewrites
- position of "live-in caregiver" position of live-in caregiver
- proficient in cooking nutritious meals skilled at preparing nutritious meals
- fun enjoyable
- through interaction with native speakers by interacting with native speakers
- love welcome
- Spending six months with your family and looking after your child would be a wonderful opportunity for me, as I genuinely enjoy working with children and have experience in childcare. This six-month placement would allow me to combine my genuine enjoyment of working with children with my practical childcare experience.
Why this response received Band 8.0
The letter is strongest in its direct, well-developed presentation of relevant childcare experience and personal qualities, supported by a consistently professional tone. The main limitation is that the motivation and free-time plans receive less development than the suitability section. To improve further, add one concrete reason this particular six-month placement appeals and explain how the proposed activities would fit around the family’s needs.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The response fulfils the application purpose, addresses all three bullet points, and maintains an appropriate formal register with relevant supporting detail.
Develop the motivation and free-time points with one more specific detail so that all parts are as fully supported as the childcare experience.
Coherence and Cohesion
Clear paragraphing, purposeful sequencing, and well-controlled cohesive devices make the letter effortless to follow.
Strengthen the connection between the free-time plans and the placement by briefly showing how they would be arranged around caregiving duties.
Lexical Resource
The vocabulary is flexible, precise, and well suited to a formal application, with effective phrases such as “structured yet fun environment”.
For greater naturalness, prefer an expression such as “skilled at preparing nutritious meals” to the slightly formal “proficient in cooking nutritious meals”.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A wide range of sentence structures is used accurately and naturally, with virtually no grammatical or punctuation errors.
Maintain this high level of control while experimenting with an additional complex sentence to link personal motivation to relevant experience.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You have seen an advertisement in an Australian magazine for someone to live with a family for six months and look after their six-year-old child. Write a letter to the parents. In your letter:
- explain why you would like the job
- give details of why you would be a suitable person to employ
- say how you would spend your free time while you are in Australia
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.