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 caregiverposition 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 skilled at preparing nutritious mealsproficient in cooking nutritious meals and maintaining a structured yet enjoyablefun environment.
During my free time in Australia, I plan to explore the local culture, visit historical sites, and improve my English skills by interacting with native speakersthrough interaction with native speakers.
I would welcomelove the opportunity to discuss this role further. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Yours faithfully,
Catherine Elaine
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.