Your local council is considering closing a sports and leisure centre that it runs, in order to save money. Write a letter to the local council. In your letter: - give details of how you and your friends or family use the centre - explain why the sports and leisure centre is important for the local community - describe the possible effects on local people if the centre closes
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam, I am writing this letter to express my serious concern about the recent decision by the local council to close ‘Grapevine Sports and Leisure Centre’ for the lack of funds. Well, while I understand that the decision has been taken in the greater interest of the citizen of Grapevine, I don’t think they fully endorse the idea because closing the sports and leisure centre would deeply affect the physical and mental well-being of our neighbourhood in the long run. My family, friends and relatives come to this sports centre almost on a regular basis for various physical and social activities. We play badminton, we swim there, and we also use this facility to share our thoughts and opinions with other members of the community. Besides, this facility is also used by our children as their playground during the evening after their school hours. And, ultimately, because of this close bond among the members of our community, our neighbourhood can consider itself as a safe neighbourhood. So, based on these benefits of this sports and recreation centre, I request you to keep this centre open until, at least, some alternatives are found. Yours faithfully, Lara Cunningham
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Reflect proposal status Original: recent decision by the local council to close Suggested revision: local council's proposal to close Why it matters: The prompt says the council is considering closure, so it is not yet a final decision.
- 2. Use natural reason phrase Original: for the lack of funds Suggested revision: to save money Why it matters: This concise phrase accurately states the council's reason from the task.
- 3. Keep formal opening Original: Well, Suggested revision: Delete Why it matters: This conversational filler is unnecessary in a formal letter to the council.
- 4. Correct noun phrase Original: greater interest of the citizen of Grapevine Suggested revision: best interests of Grapevine's citizens Why it matters: The fixed expression is best interests, and the reference requires a plural possessive noun phrase.
- 5. Use concise frequency Original: almost on a regular basis Suggested revision: regularly Why it matters: Regularly expresses the frequency without the contradictory combination of almost and on a regular basis.
- 6. Use natural time phrase Original: during the evening after their school hours Suggested revision: in the evenings after school Why it matters: The replacement is the conventional concise expression for this recurring time.
- 7. Correct verb pattern Original: can consider itself as a safe neighbourhood Suggested revision: can consider itself a safe neighbourhood Why it matters: Consider takes an object complement directly without as in this construction.
- 8. Clarify the condition Original: until, at least, some alternatives are found Suggested revision: until at least one suitable alternative is found Why it matters: The commas interrupt the phrase, and a singular alternative agrees with is found.
- 9. Remove redundancy Original: writing this letter Suggested revision: writing Why it matters: The context already makes clear that this is a letter.
- 10. Format centre name Original: ‘Grapevine Sports and Leisure Centre’ Suggested revision: the Grapevine Sports and Leisure Centre Why it matters: The institution name does not need quotation marks and takes the definite article in this sentence.
- 11. Clarify the pronoun Original: I don’t think they fully endorse the idea Suggested revision: I do not believe local residents support the proposal Why it matters: Naming local residents removes the ambiguous reference of they and keeps a formal tone.
- 12. Identify affected people Original: deeply affect the physical and mental well-being of our neighbourhood Suggested revision: seriously affect residents' physical and mental well-being Why it matters: Physical and mental well-being applies to the people in the neighbourhood rather than the place itself.
Suggested Rewrites
- recent decision by the local council to close local council's proposal to close
- for the lack of funds to save money
- Well, Delete
- greater interest of the citizen of Grapevine best interests of Grapevine's citizens
- almost on a regular basis regularly
- during the evening after their school hours in the evenings after school
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter clearly explains how the centre is used and why it supports physical health, social connection and neighbourhood safety, while maintaining a generally appropriate formal tone. The possible effects of closure are stated but only briefly developed, and several informal transitions and awkward collocations reduce refinement. Prioritize a distinct paragraph explaining concrete consequences for local users before making the final request.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The purpose and all three bullet points are addressed with relevant detail, though the effects of closure receive less development than the centre's current benefits.
Explain two direct closure consequences, such as the loss of exercise opportunities and reduced community contact, before requesting reconsideration.
Coherence and Cohesion
The argument progresses coherently from concern to personal use, community importance and a request, but paragraphing is absent and some linking is conversational.
Divide the response by bullet point and replace openers such as 'Well,' 'And,' and 'So' with formal transitions.
Lexical Resource
The response uses a sufficiently varied range for community facilities and well-being, with occasional imprecise or repetitive phrasing.
Use more natural expressions such as 'due to insufficient funding,' 'residents,' and 'on a regular basis' only where needed.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Complex sentences are generally controlled and meaning is clear, although article, number, punctuation and reference errors occur occasionally.
Check forms such as 'the citizens of Grapevine,' remove misplaced commas, and ensure pronouns have unambiguous referents.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
Your local council is considering closing a sports and leisure centre that it runs, in order to save money. Write a letter to the local council. In your letter:
- give details of how you and your friends or family use the centre
- explain why the sports and leisure centre is important for the local community
- describe the possible effects on local people if the centre closes
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.