The local council is planning to close a football ground down near you because it is in disrepair. You and other residents disagree with this and want them to keep it. Write a letter to the council. In your letter: - Explain why the football ground is not being used - Explain why the ground is important - Explain the wider benefits
Sample Response
Dear Ma, My name is Mercy Uti, and I am a resident of the community with the football ground you want to close down. The reason the football ground is not being used as often, is due to it’s horrendous and unclean condition. There are really thick weeds in the surroundings and this could be a comfortable spot for reptiles to live in. There’s also, a busted pipe in the corner and this causes constant spillage in the area and makes the ground very slippery too. The football ground was created to help as a rehabilitation center for the teenagers and children in that area, who were going through rough times at home and in school. We have heard of success stories of children who became professional footballers from training in that playground. Refurbishing and frequent maintenance of the football ground will attract an increase in people using the ground (resident and non resident). This will in turn, reduce crimes in our community and near by communities as well.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use formal salutation Original: Dear Ma, Suggested revision: Dear Sir or Madam, Why it matters: A formal letter to a council requires an appropriate salutation.
- 2. Clarify the location Original: with Suggested revision: near Why it matters: The current preposition does not clearly express the ground's location.
- 3. Remove the comma Original: as often, Suggested revision: as often Why it matters: A comma should not separate the subject complement from the verb here.
- 4. Use possessive its Original: it’s Suggested revision: its Why it matters: The possessive determiner has no apostrophe.
- 5. Use measured wording Original: horrendous and unclean Suggested revision: poor and unsanitary Why it matters: The revision describes the condition in a more measured formal register.
- 6. Choose precise wording Original: comfortable spot Suggested revision: suitable habitat Why it matters: This phrase expresses the intended environmental meaning more precisely.
- 7. Fix form and comma Original: There’s also, Suggested revision: There is also Why it matters: The comma is incorrect, and the full form suits a formal letter better.
- 8. Use formal wording Original: busted Suggested revision: burst Why it matters: The replacement is the more appropriate formal collocation.
- 9. Describe the leak precisely Original: constant spillage Suggested revision: constant water leakage Why it matters: The revision identifies the specific problem more clearly.
- 10. Fix verb pattern Original: created to help as a rehabilitation center Suggested revision: created to serve as a rehabilitation centre Why it matters: The verb phrase needs a natural complement to describe the ground's function.
- 11. Remove unnecessary article Original: the teenagers and children Suggested revision: teenagers and children Why it matters: The general plural nouns do not require the definite article here.
- 12. Remove the comma Original: area, who were Suggested revision: area who were Why it matters: The defining relative clause should not be separated by a comma.
Suggested Rewrites
- Dear Ma, Dear Sir or Madam,
- with near
- as often, as often
- it’s its
- horrendous and unclean poor and unsanitary
- comfortable spot suitable habitat
Why this response received Band 6.0
The letter’s strongest feature is its relevant, concrete explanation of the ground’s poor condition and value to local young people. Its main limitation is that the request to keep the ground open is only implied, while the salutation and absence of a closing weaken the formal letter format. The highest priority is to state the requested action directly and organise the three purposes into clear paragraphs.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The response addresses all three bullet points with relevant reasons, examples, and wider community benefits, but the desired council action and formal conventions are insufficiently explicit.
Add a direct request for the council to retain and refurbish the ground, with an appropriate formal salutation and closing.
Coherence and Cohesion
Ideas progress logically from the ground’s condition to its social importance and wider benefits, although they are presented as one continuous block.
Separate the opening, each main purpose, and the request into distinct paragraphs to make the progression easier to follow.
Lexical Resource
The letter uses an adequate range of relevant vocabulary, including terms such as rehabilitation, refurbishing, and maintenance, despite several awkward or inaccurate choices.
Improve collocational precision by using natural phrases such as overgrown weeds, leaking pipe, local residents, and nearby communities.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A mix of simple and complex structures communicates the message clearly, but punctuation, possessive forms, articles, and agreement are not consistently controlled.
Proofread sentence boundaries and recurring forms, especially its versus it’s, unnecessary commas, and singular or plural noun agreement.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
The local council is planning to close a football ground down near you because it is in disrepair. You and other residents disagree with this and want them to keep it. Write a letter to the council. In your letter:
- Explain why the football ground is not being used
- Explain why the ground is important
- Explain the wider benefits
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.