You are interested in applying for a scholarship program to study at a foreign university. Write a letter to inquire about the course. In your letter: - explain which course you are interested in - say what you know about the university - explain why you should receive the scholarship
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam, I have recently graduatedcompleted my graduation from the Singapore University of Technology and Design and my major was Engineering Systems and Design. I am writing to get the details about the scholarship program that your university offers as I am really interested in completinginterested to complete my Master's degree atfrom your university. I would like to pursue my Master's degree at Loughborough University and I am hoping to receive a scholarshiplooking forward to getting a scholarship in the faculty of Engineering SystemsSystem and Design. As I want to build a career in the engineeringEngineering sector, I would like to complete my Master's degree in the same field as my undergraduate degreein the same faculty that I did for my graduation. I am convinced that pursuing postgraduate studydoing the post-graduation at Loughborough University would be an excellent decision for me as the university offers the opportunity to study a subject at an advanced level, develop personal and professional skills, and it is one of the best universities in the UK. The 440-acre single-site campus offers great facilities for students and staff, and givesstudents, staff and gives every student the opportunity they need to achieve their full potential. I would be very proud to be a part of this glorious university. I want to pursuecontinue my Master's course in Engineering Systems and would be able to do so only if I am granted a scholarship as I come from a middle-class family. My undergraduate Engineering Systems and Design courseEngineering Systems and Design graduation course had 138 credits in total and I achievedachieve a CGPA of 3.89 out of 4.0. I have part-time workjob experience in the engineeringEngineering design field and I believe I can prove my competency for the scholarship provided that I get an opportunity. I look forward to your reply and would really appreciate your guidance regarding this. Yours faithfully, Lee Gordon
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter gives a clear formal request and supports the scholarship case with relevant academic, financial, and professional details. Its main limitation is presentation: repetition and the absence of purposeful paragraphing make the response feel less controlled than its content warrants. The highest priority is to organise the three requested areas into distinct paragraphs and replace repeated or awkward wording with more precise expressions.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The purpose is clear, all three bullet points are addressed with relevant detail, and the formal tone is generally appropriate.
Ask one or two specific questions about the course or scholarship process so that the inquiry function is developed as fully as the supporting case.
Coherence and Cohesion
The ideas follow a broadly logical sequence, but the single dense paragraph and repeated references to the master's degree weaken the organisation.
Use separate paragraphs for the desired course, knowledge of the university, and scholarship justification, with less repetition between them.
Lexical Resource
The letter uses a sufficient range of formal and subject-specific vocabulary, although several collocations such as 'complete my Master's degree' and 'doing the post-graduation' are awkward.
Improve collocational precision by using natural phrases such as 'pursue a master's degree' and 'undertake postgraduate study'.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A variety of complex structures is used successfully, and most sentences are accurate despite occasional agreement, tense, and parallel-structure errors.
Proofread verb forms and sentence coordination, especially errors such as 'I achieve a CGPA' and the faulty parallel structure in the campus-facilities sentence.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You are interested in applying for a scholarship program to study at a foreign university. Write a letter to inquire about the course. In your letter:
- explain which course you are interested in
- say what you know about the university
- explain why you should receive the scholarship
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.