You have an extra room in your apartment and would like to rent it out to a student. Write a letter to the university council officer. In your letter: - describe your apartment and the facilities available - mention why you want to rent out the room - say what kind of tenant you would prefer
Sample Response
Dear Mr Hassan, I am writing with regard to your advertisement in the New York Times which stated that people should contact you to rent out rooms to students from your university. I would be grateful if you could findarrange a tenant for my extra room. I own a flat in Manhattan, and it is on Tenth Avenueon 10th avenue. My flat is located on the fourth4th floor, and it is quite spacious. It contains 2 moderately large bedrooms, a storage room, a kitchen, and 2 bathrooms. In addition, it is fully furnished with brand-name furniturebranded furniture and household appliances. I live alone in this apartment and use one bedroom while I have no use for the second bedroomthe second bedroom has no use for me. This is why I have decided to rent it out to a studentlease it out to someone. The rent is $450 per month including utility bills. The tenant should preferably be politemust be a polite person and a non-smoker. Additionally, he should not frequently host guests or partieshave frequent guests and parties. I am sure the prospective student will feel comfortable in this accommodation. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Yours sincerelycordially, Fadi Al-Damiri
Why this response received Band 7.5
The letter fully explains the apartment, available furnishings and utilities, the reason for renting the spare room, the monthly cost, and the preferred tenant profile in an appropriately formal tone. Its main limitation is presentation rather than content: all information appears in one dense paragraph, and a few phrases are slightly unnatural or overly restrictive. Prioritise clear paragraphing and neutral, precise wording for tenant expectations.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The purpose is clear, every bullet point is fully developed with practical details, and the formal tone is consistently suitable for a university officer.
Refine the tenant description by presenting house rules neutrally and clarifying whether occasional visitors are acceptable.
Coherence and Cohesion
The information follows a logical sequence from request to apartment details, reason, rent, preferences, and closing, though it is presented as one paragraph.
Separate the property description, rental reason and terms, and tenant preferences into distinct paragraphs.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is clear, varied, and appropriate for housing and formal requests, with only minor awkwardness in phrases such as 'arrange a tenant' and 'branded furniture.'
Use natural alternatives such as 'find a suitable tenant,' 'quality furniture,' and 'the spare bedroom is currently unused.'
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Sentence structures are varied and mostly accurate, with only occasional minor issues in articles, number style, and coordination.
Polish article use and write small numbers consistently in words for a more formal letter style.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You have an extra room in your apartment and would like to rent it out to a student. Write a letter to the university council officer. In your letter:
- describe your apartment and the facilities available
- mention why you want to rent out the room
- say what kind of tenant you would prefer
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.