Your local hospital has advertised people to do unpaid work helping at the hospital. You would like to do some work at the hospital in your free time. Write a letter to the hospital. In your letter: - explain why you would like to do unpaid work at the hospital - say what type of unpaid work you would be able to do - give details of when you would be available for this work
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam, It is encouragingmagnificent to see such an admirable initiative on your part to invite people to volunteermotivate people to do some unpaid work to help at our local hospitalhelp your hospital in our town. While the advertisement does not exactly say what kind of unpaid work you need help withwhat kind of unpaid work for which you are seeking help, I would like to take partI think that I could still be a part of this great initiative, simply because it would allow me to help patientsill people in the hospital while using my spare time to help othersutilising my spare time to do something good for others. Besides, this volunteering experiencethis little unpaid work experience would enable me to gain valuable skillslearn something noble that I would be able to use for the rest of my life. Regarding the role, I understandAgain, I understand that your advertisement did not list any specific volunteer rolesyou have not asked to fill in any specific vacant job positions in your advertisement, but I would be happy toI would surely love to assist a nurse or a doctor in taking the temperature of patients as well as checking their blood pressure as examples of how I could helpto name a few ways I can help them. So, please consider me for the volunteer roleposition of an 'unpaid worker' as it would not only allow me to gain some valuable experience but also help reduce the workload of your regular staffhelp your regular staff to reduce some of their extra workloads. Regarding my availabilityBy the way, I am available to work Monday to Fridayevery day from Monday to Friday from 4.00 pm to 7.30 pm. Yours faithfully, Adrian Farrel
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter covers all three requests with a clear reason for volunteering, a specific proposed role and precise weekday availability, while maintaining an appropriately formal stance. Its main weakness is over-elaborate and sometimes unnatural wording, and the suggested clinical tasks may sound unrealistic for an untrained volunteer; the priority is to request suitable supervised support duties in concise, professional language.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The purpose, motivation, proposed work and availability are all clear and developed, though taking vital signs may be unsuitable without stated training.
Offer plausible volunteer duties such as guiding visitors or helping with non-clinical administration, or clarify any relevant healthcare training.
Coherence and Cohesion
The ideas follow the task bullets in a broadly logical order, but repetition about the unspecified vacancy and some mechanical linkers reduce efficiency.
Give each bullet point one focused paragraph and remove repeated discussion of what the advertisement did not specify.
Lexical Resource
The response demonstrates good range, but inflated or awkward combinations such as magnificent initiative, learn something noble, and extra workloads weaken naturalness.
Use restrained professional wording such as worthwhile programme, gain useful experience, and reduce the staff's workload.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Complex sentences are generally well controlled, with occasional awkward constructions rather than frequent grammatical breakdowns.
Simplify clauses such as what kind of unpaid work for which you are seeking help and check pronoun references in long sentences.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
Your local hospital has advertised people to do unpaid work helping at the hospital. You would like to do some work at the hospital in your free time. Write a letter to the hospital. In your letter:
- explain why you would like to do unpaid work at the hospital
- say what type of unpaid work you would be able to do
- give details of when you would be available for this work
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.