You are going to travel to London for about one week and spend two days visiting the London Library. You are studying for a project and want to do some background studies. Write a letter to the head of the library. In your letter: - explain what your project is about? - say what studies you want to do at the library? - say what facilities you need to use?
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam,
I am Ankitha, pursuing my Masters’s degree from Anna University. I plan to visit London next month for a week and would like to see the Central Library for two days to complete my research program and perform a few background checks following my curriculum.
Let me briefly illustrate my project. My dissertation involves the origin of humans from apes and further evolution and adaptation to a wide variety of lifestyles since then. It includes behavioural patterns of people with tremendous changes in technology from our ancestors to the modern era.
For my research work, I prefer to scan books and paperwork written by renowned scientists, which comprises extraordinary findings while exploring archaeological sites. These books consist of accurate information and techniques inculcated, such as radioactive carbon dating principles that help to discover the age of various objects used by ancestors, and I would like to incorporate their strategies in my study.
Furthermore, I would like to utilize the computer amenities and video journals which are made available to the public with prior registration. These are required to locate all books and grasp knowledge by watching some movies and films. I will bring a letter of permission from my professor to access these resources.
Thank you for your consideration.
Yours faithfully,
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Correct the degree Original: Masters’s Suggested revision: master’s Why it matters: The possessive form is 'master’s', with one apostrophe and no capital letter here.
- 2. Use correct preposition Original: from Suggested revision: at Why it matters: A student normally pursues a degree 'at' a university.
- 3. Name the right library Original: see the Central Library Suggested revision: visit the London Library Why it matters: The task specifies the London Library, so the destination should be named accurately.
- 4. Match the task term Original: program Suggested revision: project Why it matters: 'Research project' matches the academic work described in the task.
- 5. Use academic collocation Original: perform a few background checks Suggested revision: conduct some background research Why it matters: 'Background checks' usually concern people, while this purpose requires academic research.
- 6. Clarify the purpose Original: following my curriculum Suggested revision: for my course Why it matters: This concise phrase clearly connects the research to the writer's studies.
- 7. Use precise verb Original: illustrate Suggested revision: describe Why it matters: 'Describe' is the natural verb when explaining the subject of a project.
- 8. Use library wording Original: prefer to scan books Suggested revision: would like to consult books Why it matters: 'Consult books' clearly expresses reading sources for research rather than digitising them.
- 9. Name academic sources Original: paperwork Suggested revision: research papers Why it matters: 'Research papers' accurately identifies scholarly material, whereas 'paperwork' means administrative documents.
- 10. Fix subject agreement Original: comprises Suggested revision: contain Why it matters: The relative clause refers to the plural books and papers, so it needs a plural verb.
- 11. Use precise wording Original: extraordinary Suggested revision: research Why it matters: 'Research findings' is the precise academic term for results presented in scholarly sources.
- 12. Clarify the modifier Original: while exploring archaeological sites Suggested revision: from archaeological research Why it matters: The original participial phrase incorrectly suggests that the books themselves explore the sites.
Suggested Rewrites
- Masters’s master’s
- from at
- see the Central Library visit the London Library
- program project
- perform a few background checks conduct some background research
- following my curriculum for my course
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter is well organized, appropriately formal, and develops each requested point with specific information about the project, planned research, and required facilities. Its main weakness is imprecise and sometimes strained vocabulary, especially in the research description; prioritising accurate collocations and clearer descriptions of the exact library materials and facilities needed would make the request more natural and effective.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
All three bullet points are addressed in relevant detail, and the purpose and formal register remain clear throughout.
Specify the particular collections, databases, or equipment needed so the library can respond more practically.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response follows a clear paragraph-by-paragraph progression from purpose to project, research activities, and facilities.
Shorten the dense third paragraph and clarify references such as ‘These books’ and ‘their strategies’.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is varied and topic-appropriate, but frequent awkward collocations such as ‘perform background checks’ and ‘computer amenities’ limit precision.
Prefer precise academic and library terms such as ‘conduct background research’, ‘scholarly articles’, and ‘computer facilities’.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The writer uses varied complex structures, though agreement, possessive, and modification errors recur in longer sentences.
Check subject-verb agreement and split heavily modified sentences so each clause has a clear grammatical subject.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You are going to travel to London for about one week and spend two days visiting the London Library. You are studying for a project and want to do some background studies. Write a letter to the head of the library. In your letter:
- explain what your project is about?
- say what studies you want to do at the library?
- say what facilities you need to use?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.