A large company in your area plans either to sponsor a local children's sports team for two years or to pay for two open-air concerts. It has asked for feedback from the public. Write a letter to the company. In your letter: - describe the benefits of sponsoring the sports team - summarise the benefits of paying for the concerts - say how you think the company should spend the money
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam,
I am writing to offer my feedback onconvey my opinion regarding your proposal to investgenerous initiative to invest in the local community, either by sponsoring a children’s sports team for two years or by funding two open-air concerts. Both options would provide substantial benefitsbring great value to our area, but I believe that sponsoring the sports team would have a more lasting impact.
Supporting a children’s sports team would promote physical activity, teamwork, and discipline among young people. Regular training and participation in competitions would boost their confidence and encourage a healthy lifestyle. Moreover, long-term sponsorship would provideensure financial stability, allowing the team to purchase suitableproper equipment, hire skilled coaches, and enter higher-level competitionscompete at higher levels.
On the other hand, open-air concerts would provide entertainment for a wide audience, bringing people together and enriching the cultural life of our community. Such events could attract visitors from neighbouring areas, benefiting local businesses. However, these benefits would be short-livedtheir impact would be temporary.
Considering the long-term advantages, I strongly recommend that the company invest in the children’s sports team, as this would provide ongoing benefits for young people and the broader community.
Yours faithfully,
Blake Harrison
Why this response received Band 8.5
The letter is highly effective: it addresses every bullet point directly, develops both alternatives with relevant benefits, and maintains a polished formal register. The only notable limitation is that the case for the concerts is somewhat briefer and more general than the sports-team discussion. The highest priority is to add one concrete community benefit or practical outcome for the concert option to strengthen the balance.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The response fully covers both funding options, states a clear preference, and supports the recommendation with relevant long-term benefits.
Develop the concert option with one additional concrete benefit so the comparison is equally detailed.
Coherence and Cohesion
Purposeful paragraphing, clear progression, and well-controlled linking make the letter easy to follow throughout.
Refine the transition into the recommendation by explicitly connecting the temporary nature of concerts to the long-term selection criterion.
Lexical Resource
A wide and precise vocabulary is used naturally, with effective phrases related to community investment, sponsorship, and cultural benefits.
For further refinement, replace broad expressions such as great value with a more specific description of community impact.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The letter demonstrates a wide range of complex structures with consistently accurate grammar and punctuation.
Maintain this level of control while varying sentence openings slightly to make the comparison even more stylistically flexible.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
A large company in your area plans either to sponsor a local children's sports team for two years or to pay for two open-air concerts. It has asked for feedback from the public. Write a letter to the company. In your letter:
- describe the benefits of sponsoring the sports team
- summarise the benefits of paying for the concerts
- say how you think the company should spend the money
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.