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 Taylor, I sincerely apologize to both of you for any inconvenience caused bycaused due to the noise from my house, and thank you for bringing this to my attention. SometimesAt times, we maymight not be aware of the problems we unintentionally cause to our neighbours, and I hopeI am hoping that you will accept my apology. I can assure you that I will take the necessary steps to prevent this from happening againprevent it in the future. As you are aware, I am a musician by profession and my work requires me to do rehearsals before a performance at irregular hoursat odd times. In addition to this, I also provide coaching to music students in the morning. AlthoughAlthough, I am sincere about making sure that the noise level remains low and within the range of my property, it is quite clear that it was higher this time. To address the problem of high noise levels, I have called a friend of mine who is an expert in sound engineering. He has suggested ways to contain this noise problem by installing noise cancellation frames on windows and doors and making the room airtight. It may cost me a significant amount but should work in the long run. Please know that making the modification to the existing arrangement will take up to a month. I am afraid that you will have to tolerate the noisetolerate noises for some more time, though I will try my best to keep it to a minimum, and hope that you will be agreeable to the proposed solution. Again, I regret the inconvenience caused to you. Yours sincerely, Prateek Roy
Why this response received Band 7.5
The letter fully addresses the complaint with a courteous apology, clear reasons for the noise, and a credible remedial plan supported by practical detail. Its main limitation is presentation: the whole response forms one long block, while a few imprecise collocations and minor grammatical slips reduce polish. The highest priority is to divide the content into purposeful paragraphs and refine awkward phrases so the solution is easier to follow.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The letter achieves its purpose directly, covers all three bullet points, and develops the explanation and proposed action in an appropriately courteous tone.
Make the interim arrangements during the month-long installation period more specific to strengthen reassurance for the neighbours.
Coherence and Cohesion
The ideas progress logically from apology and explanation to the proposed solution, but presenting the entire letter as one block weakens the organisation.
Use separate paragraphs for the apology, reasons, remedial action, and closing reassurance.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is varied and suitably formal, with effective expressions such as "bringing this to my attention" and "in the long run," though a few collocations are imprecise.
Replace awkward phrases such as "noise cancellation frames" and "contain this noise problem" with more natural wording such as soundproofing and reduce the noise.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A broad range of complex structures is used with good control, and the few errors do not impede meaning.
Remove unnecessary punctuation after subordinators and tighten awkward constructions such as "Although, I am sincere about making sure".
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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.