You are going on a short training course at a college in Greenmount, Northern Ireland. You need somewhere to live while you are there. Write a letter to the accommodation officer at the college. In your letter: - explain your situation - describe the accommodation you require - say when you will need it
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam, I am writing this letter to ask you to arrangerequest you for arranging suitable accommodation for me during my training course at the City College, Greenmount, Northern Ireland. I am looking for a place to livea place to live in and I hope you canwould help me with this. I am searching for a shared room with a kitchen and attached bathroom. It would be great if another student were interested in sharingif someone is interested in sharing the room provided that she is femalebut she has to be a female who is taking the same training course as I amwho would take the same training course as mine. I would really appreciate a room with hot watera hot water facility, and I am looking for a furnished room. My course startsis going to commence on 10th September and I will arrive one week earlier, on 3 Septembershall reach there a week earlier. Please arrange a living place for me in Greenmount as soon as possible so that I can successfully complete the course. I am looking forward to hearing from you soon. Yours faithfully, Namrata Jain
Why this response received Band 6.5
The letter clearly explains the training course, specifies a furnished shared room with a kitchen, bathroom, hot water, and a female student roommate, and indicates arrival one week before the course. Its main limitation is incomplete timing because it never states how long the accommodation is required, while frequent awkward request patterns reduce professionalism. The highest priority is to give exact occupancy dates and use concise, natural formal phrasing.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The situation and accommodation requirements are clear and relevant, but the requested end date or duration is missing.
Provide exact move-in and move-out dates, linked to the full duration of the short course.
Coherence and Cohesion
The request follows a logical order, but one-block presentation and repeated statements about finding accommodation weaken cohesion.
Separate the course situation, room requirements, and dates into three focused paragraphs.
Lexical Resource
The vocabulary is sufficient for the request, though repetition and unnatural phrases reduce precision.
Use arrange accommodation, en-suite bathroom, hot water, furnished room, prospective roommate, and attend the same course.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Meaning is clear and several complex forms are attempted, but errors in verb patterns, pronouns, articles, and comparison recur.
Use request that you arrange, a course like mine, and arrive there, while avoiding unnecessary future forms.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You are going on a short training course at a college in Greenmount, Northern Ireland. You need somewhere to live while you are there. Write a letter to the accommodation officer at the college. In your letter:
- explain your situation
- describe the accommodation you require
- say when you will need it
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.