You are taking a course at a local college. The deadline for your project was last week but you haven't finished it. Write a letter to your lecturer. In your letter: - introduce yourself - explain why you haven't handed in the project yet - request more time to do it.
Sample Response
Dear Ms. McKeen, My name is Leo Smith and I am a first-year student in your Marketing class at Capilano College. I am writing to you because I have a problem with the social media project you assignedthe project you set about social media. The due date was last week, butlast week but I am afraidI'm afraid I haven't finished it yet. As you know, I have been absent from class for almost ten days with COVID-19 symptoms and I have not been attending lectures. I only managed to get the reading list from a friend and go to the library to do research yesterday. You will see from your records that I have never missed a deadline for an assignment so far during my course. However, I am requesting an extension of one week in this case because I am considerablyso behind with my work. I hope you will take my illness into consideration and grant me an extension. Yours sincerely, Leo Smith
Why this response received Band 8.0
The letter is direct, courteous, and complete, with a clear introduction, a credible explanation for the missed deadline, and a specific request supported by relevant circumstances. Its main limitation is slight repetition and compression around the illness and absence; the best refinement would be to organize the explanation and request into visibly distinct paragraphs and streamline overlapping details.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The letter fully achieves its purpose by introducing the writer, explaining the delay credibly, and requesting a precise extension in an appropriate tone.
Make the request even more persuasive by briefly stating the revised date on which the completed project will be submitted.
Coherence and Cohesion
Information progresses naturally from identification and purpose through explanation to the extension request, with cohesive links used accurately.
Separate the introduction, explanation, and request into clear paragraphs and remove minor repetition about absence from class.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is varied, precise, and suitably formal, with natural expressions for the academic context and the extension request.
Replace the slightly general phrase about having a problem with a more precise reference to the delayed social-media project.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A broad range of sentence structures is handled accurately, and the response remains clear throughout.
Refine sentence economy by combining the overlapping references to being absent and not attending lectures.
Write this task while it is fresh
Try the same task now. It helps you remember the feedback and write better next time.
IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You are taking a course at a local college. The deadline for your project was last week but you haven't finished it. Write a letter to your lecturer. In your letter:
- introduce yourself
- explain why you haven't handed in the project yet
- request more time to do it.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.