You recently booked a part-time course at a college. You now need to cancel your booking. Write a letter to the college administrator. In your letter: - say which part-time course you booked - explain why you need to cancel your booking - ask about booking a different course
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam,
My name is Charley Sanders, and I am writing this letter to cancel my enrollment in a part-time course at your college which I was planning to take this coming summer. Please let me explain what prompted me to do this.
The course, in which I enrolled as a part-time student, is called “Digital Photography”, and it was to be finished within three months from the date of its commencement. To tell the truth, I was quite excited about completing this short course until my company asked me to work full-time this coming summer. In case you are wondering, I am currently working as a part-time employee at a ready-made garments factory as a Quality Assurance Associate, and if I start working as a full-time employee, I just will not have enough time to carry on with the course. In other words, a conflict in my schedule is what is forcing me to cancel this course.
But, the good thing is that I can book another course after my working hours, and if that is an option, I would be more than happy to be enrolled in a computer networking course.
Thanks for being so understanding.
Yours faithfully,
Charley Sanders
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Remove conversational filler Original: To tell the truth, Suggested revision: Delete Why it matters: This conversational aside is unnecessary in a formal cancellation request.
- 2. Remove informal aside Original: In case you are wondering, Suggested revision: Delete Why it matters: The aside sounds conversational and delays the relevant employment explanation.
- 3. Use singular modifier Original: garments Suggested revision: garment Why it matters: The attributive noun “garment” should be singular before “factory.”
- 4. Use lower case Original: as a Quality Assurance Associate Suggested revision: as a quality assurance associate Why it matters: A general job title is not capitalised when it does not precede a name.
- 5. Improve adverb placement Original: just Suggested revision: simply Why it matters: “Simply” is more natural and suitably formal in this position.
- 6. Use formal transition Original: But, the good thing is that Suggested revision: However, Why it matters: “However” introduces the alternative-course request more concisely and formally.
- 7. Fix time expression Original: after Suggested revision: outside Why it matters: “Outside my working hours” clearly means a time when the writer is not at work.
- 8. Use active verb Original: be enrolled in a computer networking course Suggested revision: enrol in a computer networking course Why it matters: After “would be happy to,” the active infinitive is more direct and natural.
- 9. Sentence rewrite Original: My name is Charley Sanders, and I am writing this letter to cancel my enrollment in a part-time course at your college which I was planning to take this coming summer. Suggested revision: My name is Charley Sanders, and I am writing to cancel my enrolment in a part-time course that I had planned to take at your college this coming summer. Why it matters: The rewrite removes the ambiguous placement of the relative clause and states the purpose directly.
- 10. Ask directly about transfer Suggested revision: Directly ask whether the booking can be transferred to the computer networking course and request any relevant availability or enrolment details. Why it matters: The paragraph expresses interest in another course but does not clearly ask the administrator to arrange or explain a new booking.
Suggested Rewrites
- To tell the truth, Delete
- In case you are wondering, Delete
- garments garment
- as a Quality Assurance Associate as a quality assurance associate
- just simply
- But, the good thing is that However,
Why this response received Band 7.5
The letter addresses all three requirements clearly, explains the scheduling conflict in useful detail and maintains a generally appropriate tone with effective paragraphing. Its main limitation is that the request for the alternative course is indirect and a few conversational phrases are less suitable for a college administrator. Prioritise a direct question about availability, dates and enrolment for the computer networking course.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The booked course, reason for cancellation, and desired alternative are all clearly presented, though the final request is implied rather than directly asked.
Ask explicitly whether a computer networking course is available after working hours and how the booking can be transferred.
Coherence and Cohesion
Purposeful paragraphing and clear progression make the letter easy to follow, with only slight over-explanation in the reason for cancellation.
Condense the employment background and use the saved space to develop the alternative-course request.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is varied and appropriate for enrolment and scheduling, although some phrasing is wordy or slightly conversational for the recipient.
Prefer concise formal wording such as “I must cancel because my employment will become full-time during the summer.”
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A wide range of sentence structures is used accurately, with only occasional awkward constructions and punctuation choices.
Simplify long conditional sentences and remove unnecessary commas, especially after introductory conjunctions such as “But.”
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You recently booked a part-time course at a college. You now need to cancel your booking. Write a letter to the college administrator. In your letter:
- say which part-time course you booked
- explain why you need to cancel your booking
- ask about booking a different course
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.