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,
I am Emily Jones, and I am writingformally writing to request the cancellation of my booking for the Evening Photography Course at your college, which was scheduled to begin on 15 MarchMarch 15th.
Unfortunately, due to unexpected work commitmentsunexpected work commitments at my office, I will no longer be able to attend the course as planned. My work schedule has changed, and I am now required to workstay late in the evenings, making it impossible for me to attend the sessionsparticipate in the sessions.
However, I am still very interested in taking a course at your college. Could you please tell me aboutprovide me with information about any weekend photography courses or other part-time programmes that might fit my schedulesuit my availability? I would appreciate any guidance on how to transfer my booking or enrol in a different course.
Thank you for your assistance. I look forward to your response.
Yours faithfully,
Emily Jones
Why this response received Band 8.0
The response's strongest feature is its direct and complete fulfilment of all three requirements: it identifies the course and start date, clearly explains the work conflict, and politely asks about weekend alternatives or a transfer. The formal tone, paragraphing, and language are consistently controlled. The highest-priority improvement is minor refinement—replace the slightly redundant opening wording with a more concise cancellation request while preserving the letter's clarity.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The letter fully achieves its purpose, develops every bullet point appropriately, and maintains a consistently suitable formal tone.
As a final refinement, ask whether any fee or administrative step applies to cancelling or transferring the booking.
Coherence and Cohesion
Each paragraph has a distinct communicative purpose, and the progression from cancellation to reason and alternative request is effortless to follow.
Keep this clear structure while making the opening sentence slightly shorter and more direct.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is precise, natural, and appropriately formal, with effective phrases for scheduling, availability, transfer, and enrolment.
Replace "formally writing" with the more idiomatic "writing to request" for maximum concision.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A varied range of complex structures is used accurately, with punctuation and sentence control consistently strong.
Maintain this level of accuracy while avoiding any unnecessary wording in introductory clauses.
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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.