You will move to a new city for work. You know some people who live there. Write a letter to someone you know who lives there. In your letter: - ask them for help in finding accommodation - tell them where you would like to live - tell them the type of place you are looking for
Sample Response
Dear Mr Khalid, I hopeDear Mr Khalid, Hope you are in the best of health. You willwould be glad to hear that I will be moving to Saudi Arabia for a new job that I was recently offered by a private companya new job in a private company that I have been offered recently. I will arrive in RiyadhRiyadh city in two months and will require your help to find suitable accommodation as I have to join the company next March. I would like my homemy living place to be near my office which is in the city centre as I do not want to commute a long distance every daycommute a long distance daily. The location, if possible, should have a park and a supermarket nearby so that I can spend my free time joggingjogging around and buy groceries easily. I would like to live in an apartment rather than a large house because it will be cheaper. A parking spacefacility is a must as I plan to buy a car. Also, I would like access to a sports club to play sports atduring weekends. I am sure you can help me find a good place so that I can settle down quickly. Best regards, Mubashir Mehdi
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter fully covers the request, preferred location, and desired accommodation with relevant practical detail, and the language is consistently clear and appropriately friendly. Its main weakness is presentation as one continuous paragraph, alongside a few awkward expressions and sentence-boundary issues. The highest-priority improvement is to group the request, location preferences, and property requirements into separate paragraphs while refining collocations.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The letter achieves its purpose, addresses every bullet point, and develops the location and property preferences with relevant detail.
For even greater precision, add a practical constraint such as an approximate budget or preferred rental period.
Coherence and Cohesion
Ideas progress logically from the move to location and property requirements, but the entire letter is presented as one continuous paragraph.
Separate the opening request, preferred area, and accommodation features into clear functional paragraphs.
Lexical Resource
A flexible range of vocabulary communicates detailed preferences clearly, with only occasional awkward choices such as ‘my living place’.
Refine natural collocations by using expressions such as ‘a place to live’, ‘near my workplace’, and ‘at weekends’.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Varied complex sentences are mostly accurate and easy to understand, though a few modifier and sentence-boundary problems remain.
Correct constructions such as the company ‘that I have been offered’ and punctuate the greeting and opening sentence separately.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You will move to a new city for work. You know some people who live there. Write a letter to someone you know who lives there. In your letter:
- ask them for help in finding accommodation
- tell them where you would like to live
- tell them the type of place you are looking for
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.