You share a room in a college with another student. You find it difficult to study and work there because your roommate has friends and parties in the room and sometimes borrows your things without asking. Write a letter to the Accommodation Officer. In your letter: - explain the problems with your current room - ask for a new room next term - say that you would prefer a single room and explain why
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam, I am writing to express my serious concernutter dissatisfaction with my current college accommodation, mainly due to my roommate's disruptive behaviourhousemate's absurd routine that severely disrupts my studies. I hope you will kindly allow meI am hoping you would kindly allow me to move into a single room next term so that I can study properly and live and study without disruptionlive harmoniously. For contextAs you know, I livestay in room 625 with a roommate in our college's science block. The room is nice and spacious. However, my roommate has a wide social circle and he invites visitors almost daily, which makes the room overcrowded. Besides, he holds parties occasionallynow and then, which often last till midnight or early morning. This makes it impossible for me to focus on my studies. To make the situation worse, he uses my belongingsbelonging even without asking and often damages them. I hope this matter will receive your immediate attention as it is seriously hampering my studies. I would appreciate it if you could arrange a single room for me from the beginning of the next semester as I have a need for a quiet study environmenta habit of studying in a silent atmosphere. ThankThanking you in advance for your kind cooperation. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Yours faithfully, Mansoor Afzal
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter presents the disturbances, requested move and reason for preferring a single room clearly, with specific supporting details and an appropriately firm purpose. The main limitation is that "absurd routine" sounds unnecessarily accusatory, while the one-block format and a few grammar slips reduce polish. Adopt neutral complaint language, divide the letter by function and correct forms such as "belongings" and "I hope you will."
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
Every bullet point is developed with relevant detail, though one insulting description weakens the otherwise suitable formal tone.
Describe the roommate's behaviour neutrally and focus on its effects on study, sleep and personal property.
Coherence and Cohesion
The progression from complaint to examples and the single-room request is clear, but the lack of paragraphs makes the structure less visible.
Separate the opening request, current problems and justification for a single room into three focused paragraphs.
Lexical Resource
The response uses a flexible range for accommodation and study problems, with only a few unsuitable or imprecise choices.
Replace "absurd routine" with "disruptive behaviour" and "silent atmosphere" with "quiet environment."
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Complex sentences are generally accurate and easy to follow, although a few agreement and form errors remain.
Use plural "belongings," replace "I am hoping you would" with "I hope you will," and avoid the fragment "Thanking you in advance."
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You share a room in a college with another student. You find it difficult to study and work there because your roommate has friends and parties in the room and sometimes borrows your things without asking. Write a letter to the Accommodation Officer. In your letter:
- explain the problems with your current room
- ask for a new room next term
- say that you would prefer a single room and explain why
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.