You are going on a short course to a training college abroad. It is a college that you have not been to before. Write a letter to the accommodation officer. In your letter: - give details of your course and your arrival/departure date - explain your accommodation needs - ask for information about getting to and from the college
Sample Response
Dear Sir/Madam, I am writing to inform you that I will be attending the Advanced Life Insurance course, being held from Tuesday 24th April until 27th April, at the University of Hartford. I will be arriving on the afternoon of Monday 23th and will be leaving on the morning of Saturday the 28th of April, so I will require a single room for this time. I would prefer my own bathroom, if this is possible, but do not mind sharing if I have to; however, as I am wheelchair bound, the room will have to be disability friendly. Could you please tell me how much this will cost and how I should make a payment? Do you accept VISA? As I do not know the area, I would also be grateful if you could provide some information about getting to and from the University. Will I need to take public transport from the station or is there a University bus service? Any information on what to see and do in the area would also be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your assistance. Alex Jones
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Formal salutation Original: Dear Sir/Madam Suggested revision: Dear Sir or Madam Why it matters: Writing out 'or' is the more conventional form in a formal letter.
- 2. Parallel date range Original: until Suggested revision: to Why it matters: The paired structure 'from ... to ...' expresses the date range more consistently.
- 3. Incorrect ordinal Original: 23th Suggested revision: 23rd Why it matters: The correct ordinal form of 23 is '23rd'.
- 4. Consistent date style Original: Saturday the 28th of April Suggested revision: Saturday 28th April Why it matters: This matches the concise date style used earlier in the letter.
- 5. More precise duration Original: time Suggested revision: period Why it matters: 'For this period' refers more precisely to the stated stay.
- 6. Respectful precise term Original: wheelchair bound Suggested revision: a wheelchair user Why it matters: This is a clearer and more respectful way to describe the accommodation need.
- 7. Specify accessibility need Original: disability friendly Suggested revision: wheelchair-accessible Why it matters: This term states the required room feature more precisely.
- 8. Use concise verb Original: make a payment Suggested revision: pay Why it matters: The verb 'pay' is more direct and natural in this question.
- 9. Brand capitalization Original: VISA Suggested revision: Visa Why it matters: The card brand is conventionally written as 'Visa'.
- 10. Add formal sign-off Original: Alex Jones Suggested revision: Yours faithfully, Alex Jones Why it matters: A formal closing is appropriate before the sender's name when the recipient is unnamed.
Suggested Rewrites
- Dear Sir/Madam Dear Sir or Madam
- until to
- 23th 23rd
- Saturday the 28th of April Saturday 28th April
- time period
- wheelchair bound a wheelchair user
Why this response received Band 8.0
The letter’s strongest feature is its thorough, practical coverage of the course dates, accessibility requirements, and transport questions in a courteous formal register. Its main limitations are very minor accuracy and style details, including the incorrect ordinal in the arrival date and a less natural term for accessible accommodation. The highest priority is a final proofread for small factual forms and polished formal conventions, including the closing.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The response fully addresses the course and travel dates, detailed accommodation needs, and transport options while maintaining an appropriately courteous purpose.
Add a conventional formal sign-off and keep any extra local-information request secondary to the three required points.
Coherence and Cohesion
The letter moves clearly from course arrangements to room requirements and then transport questions, with cohesive links that make the sequence easy to follow.
Divide the main content into visible paragraphs aligned with the three requested areas to sharpen the structure further.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is precise and suitably formal across course, accommodation, payment, accessibility, and transport topics, despite an occasional less natural expression.
Prefer established terms such as accessible room over broader expressions such as disability friendly.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response uses a broad range of complex sentence forms accurately, with controlled punctuation and only isolated minor slips.
Proofread dates and compound modifiers carefully, correcting forms such as 23th and wheelchair bound before submission.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You are going on a short course to a training college abroad. It is a college that you have not been to before. Write a letter to the accommodation officer. In your letter:
- give details of your course and your arrival/departure date
- explain your accommodation needs
- ask for information about getting to and from the college
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.