You have an extra room in your apartment and would like to rent it out to a student. Write a letter to the newspaper to publish an advert. In your letter: - describe your apartment and the facilities available - what kind of tenant you would prefer - when you want the advertisement to be published and how you would pay the fee
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam, I am writing to request publication of an advertisementto publish an advertisement in your newspaper's classified section. I am interested in renting out a room to a tenant, preferably a student, and would like you to publish the advert on 24th and 25th May in your daily newspaper. The room I intend to rent out is fully furnished, currently vacant and comes with an attached bathroom and a balcony. The apartment is on the 4th floor, approximately 185 square feet and is located on Raspberry Streetstreet. The monthly rentThe rent per month would be $580 including utilitiesincluding the utility bills. The occupant of the room would be free to use the kitchen and the common room and couldcan move into the apartment at the beginning of June. I would like to rent it out to a university student who is a non-smoker, would have less frequent visitors and like to live quietly. If this is not possible, I can rent it out to a working professionalservice holder who would also need to be single and meet the other criteriabut he or she has to be single and fulfil other criteria. A deposit equivalent to two months’ rentA deposit of two months has to be made and I must mention that I can not guarantee a parking spaceassure a car parking in the garage. As I have mentioned, I would like to have the advert published in your newspaper's classified section on 24th and 25th May. I have written the exact text of the advertisement on a separate sheet of paperin a separate paper and it does not exceed the word limit of 200. Please publish it in a 4 × 6-inch boxon a 4X6 inch box using standard formatting and textwith general format and text. I would be ready to pay once you approve the advert for publicationapprove the advert to be published. I can pay using my credit card or send you an chequeaccount payable check. Thank you in advance for your cooperation. Yours faithfully, Tesla Johnson
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter covers every requested point in considerable detail, providing facilities, tenant preferences, publication dates, and two payment options in an appropriately formal tone. Its main limitation is excessive length and repetition, particularly the repeated publication request and several unnecessary administrative details, while some phrases are unnatural. The priority is to group the three requested areas into clear paragraphs and remove information that does not help the newspaper place the advert.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The purpose is clear and all three bullet points are thoroughly addressed with specific, mostly relevant details and a suitable formal tone.
Keep the room, tenant, date, and payment details but remove repeated or unnecessary information about the separate advert text and approval process.
Coherence and Cohesion
Information progresses logically through the room, preferred tenant, and publication arrangements, but the single long paragraph and repeated date reduce cohesion.
Create one paragraph for each bullet point and state the requested publication dates only once.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is varied and generally precise, though expressions such as 'service holder,' 'assure a car parking,' and 'account payable check' are unnatural.
Use standard terms such as 'working professional,' 'guarantee a parking space,' and 'pay by cheque.'
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The letter uses varied sentence structures with generally clear meaning, but errors in coordination, articles, comparison, and verb patterns recur.
Maintain parallel grammar in lists, for example 'is a non-smoker, has few visitors, and prefers a quiet home.'
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 have an extra room in your apartment and would like to rent it out to a student. Write a letter to the newspaper to publish an advert. In your letter:
- describe your apartment and the facilities available
- what kind of tenant you would prefer
- when you want the advertisement to be published and how you would pay the fee
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.