You saw an advertisement for a tennis course in England but you have some problems and can’t stay for the whole course. Write a letter to the course director. In your letter: - explain your interest in the course - describe your problems - find out whether a refund is possible if you leave early
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam, I am writing this letter in response to an advertisement, which was published online a few days ago, where it shows that your tennis academy in Nottinghamshire is offering a short tennis course for beginners. Given how much interested I really am in becoming a good tennis player, I had naturally become very interested after seeing the word “short”. HoweverBut, then my initial enthusiasm faded somewhatmy excitement died down a little after noticing that the course was not as short as I had expectedthe short was not really that short Deleteafter all. In fact, I would haveneed to spend at least four4 weeks in England to complete the coursefinish the whole course, which could be problematica bit problematic since I would have to return homeI would need to return to my country after three weeks. I haveI have got three weeks' vacationthree weeks vacation from workfrom my job which I plan to use to learn tenniswhich I am planning to use in learning tennis. Therefore, I was just wondering if I would be allowed to join the course with some sort of guarantee that I would get a partial refund for my course should I go back to my country before finishing the entire course or maybe you can make a special arrangement so that I can finish it in three weeks. I look forward to your responseI will wait for your response. Yours faithfully, Martin Freeman
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter communicates its purpose clearly and covers the writer's interest, the three-week availability problem, and the request for a partial refund. Its main limitation is uneven formality and precision, with repeated wording and a very long final request making the message less polished. Prioritise a concise, formally worded request that separates the refund question from the alternative three-week arrangement.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
All three required points are addressed and supported with relevant explanation, though the humorous comments about the course length are slightly informal for the recipient.
State the interest and scheduling conflict more directly, then ask separately about refund eligibility and possible course flexibility.
Coherence and Cohesion
The ideas follow a sensible sequence, but the single dense paragraph and overlong final sentence weaken clarity and progression.
Organise the interest, availability problem, and requests into separate paragraphs with one main purpose each.
Lexical Resource
There is enough range to explain the situation clearly, although repetition of 'short,' 'interested,' and 'course' and some imprecise choices limit flexibility.
Use concise formal alternatives such as 'intensive programme,' 'keen to enrol,' and 'partial reimbursement.'
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response uses varied complex structures, but tense choices, awkward relative clauses, and an overloaded final sentence reduce control.
Break the final conditional request into two sentences and revise forms such as 'how much interested' and 'three weeks vacation.'
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You saw an advertisement for a tennis course in England but you have some problems and can’t stay for the whole course. Write a letter to the course director. In your letter:
- explain your interest in the course
- describe your problems
- find out whether a refund is possible if you leave early
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.