You are not happy with the course you are doing at college and would like to change to a different course. Write a letter to the Head of Department to change your course. In your letter explain: - what course you are doing now - why you are not satisfied with that course - what course you would like to change to
Sample Response
Dear Mr Cameron, I am a first-year student at your college and I am majoring in the artsmy major is arts. I am writing to seek your permission to change one of my courses. I am hoping that you would allow me to do so. My student identification number is 254102. When I enrolled in JanuaryDuring my admission back in January, I enrolled in the music coursetook the music course and it has been a month since then. So far, I amSo far I am not happy with my progress and I am confident that I would do better if I tooktake the history coursecurriculum, which I have always beenfelt passionate about. I would not say that I dislikefeel negative about my music classes, but I believe I should choose the coursego with the course I am more interested infeel more attached to. When I wasgot admitted to the college, there were no places available in the history departmentno seat in the history department was available and music was my second preferencethe music was my second preference. Recently, I spoketalked to the dean of the history department, and he informednotified me that with your permission, I would be able to take the history courseintake the history subject. I would request you to permit me to takeintake a history course and drop the music class. I would always be gratefulI would be always grateful to you for allowing me to switch coursesgranting me to switch my course. Yours sincerely, Caterina Holmes
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter has a clear formal purpose and covers the current course, the desired change, and the circumstances behind the request in a courteous, logically sequenced way. Its main weakness is imprecise and sometimes repetitive wording around the reason for dissatisfaction, alongside several unnatural course-related collocations. Develop the academic reason more specifically and use idiomatic verbs such as enrol in, take, and switch to.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The request is clear, all bullet points are addressed, and the formal tone is appropriate, but the dissatisfaction with music is explained only in general terms.
Give one specific difficulty with the music course or explain more concretely why history better suits your goals.
Coherence and Cohesion
The information follows a clear sequence from the current course through the reasons to the requested change, with effective basic linking.
Divide the letter into purposeful paragraphs so the background, justification, and final request are visually and logically distinct.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is adequate and sometimes precise, but repeated misuse of "intake" and other course-related collocations reduces naturalness.
Use idiomatic combinations such as "take a history course," "enrol in history," and "switch from music to history."
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentences successfully, although several verb patterns and word-order choices are inaccurate.
Correct constructions such as "if I took," "I would always be grateful," and "for allowing me to switch courses."
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You are not happy with the course you are doing at college and would like to change to a different course. Write a letter to the Head of Department to change your course. In your letter explain:
- what course you are doing now
- why you are not satisfied with that course
- what course you would like to change to
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.