You are going to study at a college in the UK next year. You would like to stay in the college Hall of Residence. Write a letter to the college. In your letter: - outline what your room needs are - outline what your food needs are - ask what alternatives are available if the college cannot provide what you want
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam, I am writing this letter to inform you that I have recently beengot admitted to your college and my course beginsmy class will begin next January. ThereforeAnd for that, I would like to reserve accommodationI want to reserve my accommodation in your college Hall of Residence before I arrive in the United Kingdombefore I reach the United Kingdom to join my class. For my accommodation, I would like to have a single room with an attached bathroom and kitchen. Laundry facilities should be availableThe laundry service should be available as I would prefer not to do my own laundrydo not want to do my own laundry. If such accommodation is not possible then I could go for shared accommodationa shared accommodation but the room should be large enough. Regarding mealsComing to the food, I would prefer a vegetarian menu as I am a vegetarian. If vegetarian meals are not provided by the college canteenIf it is not provided by the college canteen then I would like to have access to a kitchenget access to the kitchen to cook my own food. The above-stated requirements are my priority but if they do not match the facilities you offermatch with your offered facilities, I would would like to know what alternatives are availableprefer to know your available options in advance so that I can make suitable arrangementsmake up my mind. If a seat in the college resident is not possible, I can stay with a couple near the college who would respect my privacy. Thank you in advance. I hope to hear from you soon. Yours faithfully, Mansoor Afzal
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter addresses the accommodation request thoroughly by specifying room, laundry, cooking, and vegetarian-food needs and by considering fallback options. Its main weakness is that the alternatives are described more as the writer’s own solutions than as a direct request for information, while one-block organisation and awkward wording reduce polish. Prioritise asking the college explicitly what residence or nearby housing alternatives it can offer, then organise the requirements into short functional paragraphs.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The purpose is clear and all three bullet points receive relevant detail, though the request for college-provided alternatives is somewhat indirect.
Ask directly which shared rooms, catered options, or approved off-campus accommodation the college can offer if the preferred room is unavailable.
Coherence and Cohesion
The letter progresses sensibly from room needs to food and alternatives, but the single-block format and some repeated conditional phrasing reduce readability.
Create separate paragraphs for the room request, dietary needs, and alternative arrangements, followed by a brief closing.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is adequate and specific to accommodation, but expressions such as got admitted, shared accommodation, a seat in the college resident, and make up my mind are imprecise.
Use have been admitted, a shared room, a place in the hall of residence, and decide which option to accept.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Complex conditional forms are generally clear, but article use, sentence openings, punctuation, and noun forms contain noticeable errors.
Correct forms such as a shared room, access to a kitchen, and a place in the residence, and avoid beginning the second sentence with And.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You are going to study at a college in the UK next year. You would like to stay in the college Hall of Residence. Write a letter to the college. In your letter:
- outline what your room needs are
- outline what your food needs are
- ask what alternatives are available if the college cannot provide what you want
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.