Your neighbours have a dog that is noisy at night. You can’t sleep due to this. Write a letter to your neighbours. In your letter: - describe the problem with the dog - explain why it is important for you to sleep outline - what your neighbours could do about the situation
Sample Response
Dear Mr and Mrs Hagel, Hope this letter finds you in good health and high spiritsgood health and spirit. I am sorry that it has come to this, but I felt it was best to write to youhad no other choice but to write this letter to you. In fact, we have an issue with your dog's barkinga situation with your dog here which keeps barking at night when I am trying to sleepjust when I try hard to go to sleep after a long and tiring day at work. Now, please don’t get me wrong as I really have nothing against dogs. In fact, I like spending time with a good and friendly dog. But, as for your dog, I am having a hard time dealing with the noise it makesnoise made by it. By the way, it is really important for me to get a good night's sleephave a good sleep because if I don’t, it becomes difficult for me to perform well at the hospital where I have to treat elderly people. I hope this explains the problem clearlySo, I think, I have got my point across. So, I would like to request you to spend some more time with the dog and train him better, or alternatively, take him to a pet hospital to do something about his persistentabrupt barking at night. But, if that doesn’t work, please try to take it to another room so that I can gettake some sleep at night. Yours sincerely, Freddie John
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter clearly explains the night-time barking, its effect on hospital work, and several possible solutions, with a generally appropriate neighbourly tone. Its main limitation is unnecessary repetition and occasional confrontational or awkward phrasing, which makes the request less concise and tactful. Prioritise a calmer, more direct structure that presents the problem, personal impact, and preferred solution once each.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
All bullet points are fully addressed with relevant detail, though some remarks sound more confrontational than is ideal for a request to neighbours.
Keep the request conciliatory by removing comments such as I have got my point across and leading with the preferred practical solution.
Coherence and Cohesion
The message has a clear overall sequence, but repeated discourse markers and the absence of body paragraphs make the progression feel loose.
Divide the letter into three focused paragraphs and reduce repeated openings with In fact, So, and But.
Lexical Resource
The vocabulary is flexible enough to describe the problem and solutions, but several collocations, including abrupt barking and take some sleep, are awkward.
Use natural phrases such as persistent barking, get enough sleep, consult a vet, and keep the dog in another room.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Most sentences are accurate and varied, with occasional punctuation issues and minor awkwardness in clause construction.
Remove unnecessary commas after conjunctions and revise the opening fragment and longer request sentence into fully controlled clauses.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
Your neighbours have a dog that is noisy at night. You can’t sleep due to this. Write a letter to your neighbours. In your letter:
- describe the problem with the dog
- explain why it is important for you to sleep outline
- what your neighbours could do about the situation
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.