Your neighbours have recently written to you to complain about the noise from your houseflat. Write a letter to your neighbours. In your letter: - explain the reasons for the noise - apologise - describe what action you will take
Sample Response
Dear Mr and Mrs JohnsonMr & Mrs Johnson, I am writing in response to your complaint letter about the noise from my apartment. I feel that I have to explain myself and sincerely apologisehumbly ask for your forgiveness. I am a student of the North Carolina Arts College, and as part of my final assessmentas a part of my term final, I have to perform in four4 plays and play the flute and guitar. Therefore, I have to rehearse every day because I am eager to perform well formake a good impression on my teachers. To achieve my goal, I have been practising for about 3 hours a day for the last week. I must apologise for rehearsingplaying at inappropriate hours. It was all my fault since I did not clearly know the apartment building's rulesrules of our apartment that prohibit playing any musical instrument loudly. However, I have consulted my class teacherconsulted with my class teacher and he suggested that I should use one of the college rooms to rehearse for a small fee. I assure you that you will not be disturbed again again by noiseby any means by the noise from my flat. I hope you can forgive meI request your forgiveness. Please acceptPlease, accept this box of homemade cookies as a token of my appreciation. Yours sincerely, Mark Arthur
Why this response received Band 7.5
The letter fully addresses the complaint, gives a convincing explanation and apology, and proposes a practical solution in a consistently courteous tone. Its main limitation is that the entire letter is presented as one block and a few phrases sound overly formal or unnatural for neighbours. Improve the layout with clear paragraphs and choose simpler, more direct wording while retaining the warm personal register.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
All three bullets are fully developed with an appropriate apologetic tone.
Keep the action plan prominent and concise.
Coherence and Cohesion
The sequence is logical, but the absence of visible paragraphing reduces readability.
Use separate paragraphs for reason, apology and solution.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is varied and suitable overall, with a few unnecessarily formal collocations.
Prefer natural neighbour-to-neighbour phrasing.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Structures are varied and well controlled, with only minor article and phrasing issues.
Polish articles and fixed expressions.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
Your neighbours have recently written to you to complain about the noise from your houseflat. Write a letter to your neighbours. In your letter:
- explain the reasons for the noise
- apologise
- describe what action you will take
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.