You have been living in a rented apartment for the last two years. Your rental agreement will expire in two months, but you want to extend it for another two years. Write a letter to the agency. In your letter: - introduce yourself - say why you want to extend the contract - mention what changes you would recommend in the contract
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam,
My name is Andy Fowler, and I live in an apartment in the south block of the Stavrolia Apartment complex, operated by your agency. I am writing becauseAnd the reason, for which, I am writing this letter to you is that I want to renew the rental agreement for another two years since my current leasecurrent lease agreement is due to expire in two monthsabout to expire in the next couple of months.
I have been living in this apartment complex for the last two years, and my entire family hashave enjoyed living here since we arrivedsince the day we arrived here because it is a pleasantnice neighbourhood. HoweverBut, the main reasonthe main reason, for which, I want to renew my rental agreement is that a major highway has recently been built close tobuilt, close to this apartment complex, which has almost halved my commuting time to workcuts my commuting time to work to almost half.
In addition,By the way, I would also like to include a new term in the contract which should say that I will not be using the laundry facility of this apartment complex since I now have my ownI have got my own washinglaundry machine now. Please therefore deductSo please deduct this service cost from my monthly charges.
I would like to request that please renew my lease agreement for another two years with the new term in it at your earliest convenience.
Yours faithfully,
Andy Fowler
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter has a clear formal purpose and covers the introduction, reasons for renewal, and requested contract change with relevant supporting detail. Its main limitation is recurrent awkwardness in sentence construction and linking, especially unnecessary commas and informal connectors that interrupt an otherwise logical progression. The highest priority is to simplify the long sentences and use more natural formal transitions and request structures.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The response fully addresses all three bullet points, maintains an appropriate formal tone, and explains both the renewal request and proposed contract change clearly.
Clarify whether the laundry charge is a separately itemised contractual fee so the requested amendment is completely precise.
Coherence and Cohesion
Information is arranged in purposeful paragraphs with clear overall progression, although connectors such as "And," "But," and "By the way" are sometimes awkward or informal.
Link paragraphs with concise formal transitions and avoid starting key sentences with conversational coordinating expressions.
Lexical Resource
The letter uses a sufficient range of topic-appropriate vocabulary, including "renew the rental agreement," "commuting time," and "monthly charges," despite some repetition and awkward choices.
Use more natural terms such as "washing machine" and "laundry-service fee" while reducing repeated references to the apartment complex and agreement.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response uses varied complex sentences, but recurring misplaced commas, awkward relative clauses, and unnatural request structures reduce grammatical control.
Remove unnecessary commas and recast sentences such as "I would like to request that please renew" as "I would be grateful if you could renew".
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You have been living in a rented apartment for the last two years. Your rental agreement will expire in two months, but you want to extend it for another two years. Write a letter to the agency. In your letter:
- introduce yourself
- say why you want to extend the contract
- mention what changes you would recommend in the contract
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.