Mrs Barrett, an English-speaking woman who lives in your town, has advertised for someone to help her in her home for a few hours a day next summer. Write a letter to Mrs Barrett. In your letter: - suggest how you could help her in her home - say why you would like to do this work - explain when you will and will not be available
Sample Response
Dear Mrs Barrett,
I recently came across your advertisement regarding your need for help in your home for a few hours a day next summer, and I would love to offer my assistance.
I could help you with a range of household tasks, such as cleaning, organising, preparing light meals, and running errands. If you have a garden, I would also be happy to assist with watering plants and general upkeep. Additionally, if you need any administrative tasks done, such as sorting paperwork or managing appointments, I am comfortable with that as well.
I would like to take up this opportunity because I enjoy helping others, and I believe it would be a rewarding experience. Furthermore, I am looking for temporary work during the summer, and this role fits well with my schedule.
I will be available from June to August, every morning until early afternoon. However, I will be unavailable on weekends due to prior commitments. Please let me know if my availability aligns with your requirements.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely,
Alia Gomez
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Condense advertisement reference Original: regarding your need for help in your home Suggested revision: seeking help at home Why it matters: The replacement states the advertised need more concisely.
- 2. Refine polite register Original: I would love to offer Suggested revision: I would be pleased to offer Why it matters: Pleased maintains a warm tone while sounding slightly more professional.
- 3. Use concise garden phrase Original: assist with watering plants Suggested revision: help water plants Why it matters: The revision is shorter and natural without changing the offered task.
- 4. Use active help phrase Original: administrative tasks done Suggested revision: help with any administrative tasks Why it matters: The active phrase is clearer and avoids the awkward passive form tasks done.
- 5. Clarify task reference Original: I am comfortable with that as well Suggested revision: I would be happy to help with these as well Why it matters: These clearly refers to the listed administrative tasks and maintains the offer of assistance.
- 6. Use role collocation Original: take up this opportunity Suggested revision: take on this role Why it matters: Take on a role is the more precise collocation for accepting work responsibilities.
- 7. Use concise schedule phrase Original: fits well with my schedule Suggested revision: suits my schedule Why it matters: The replacement conveys the same meaning more concisely.
- 8. Add relevant experience Suggested revision: Mention any prior experience or practical skills that support the household, gardening or administrative help offered. Why it matters: This would make the offer more credible without changing its range of tasks.
- 9. Specify availability precisely Suggested revision: Give exact start and end dates plus the approximate morning and early-afternoon times you can work on weekdays. Why it matters: June to August and early afternoon are useful but remain broad for scheduling a few hours each day.
Suggested Rewrites
- regarding your need for help in your home seeking help at home
- I would love to offer I would be pleased to offer
- assist with watering plants help water plants
- administrative tasks done help with any administrative tasks
- I am comfortable with that as well I would be happy to help with these as well
- take up this opportunity take on this role
Why this response received Band 8.5
The letter fully achieves its purpose with a warm, professional offer of help, a useful range of specific household tasks, a credible motivation, and precise availability. Its strongest features are the natural paragraphing and consistently clear, flexible language; there is no significant score-limiting weakness. The highest-priority refinement is to specify exact weekday hours or a preferred daily duration so Mrs Barrett can assess the arrangement immediately.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
All three bullet points are fully and appropriately developed, with specific tasks, convincing reasons, and clear available and unavailable periods.
Add the exact weekday start and finish times or confirm the number of hours available each day.
Coherence and Cohesion
Each communicative purpose has a focused paragraph, and the progression from offer to motivation and availability is seamless.
As a minor refinement, connect the task offer and availability with one sentence confirming flexibility within the stated weekday period.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is precise, varied, and natural across household work, motivation, scheduling, and polite correspondence.
Maintain this precision while replacing the slightly formal 'aligns with your requirements' with a warmer phrase if a more personal tone is desired.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A wide range of sentence structures is used accurately, with strong control of conditionals, lists, punctuation, and polite forms.
Preserve this level of accuracy while adding any exact daily hours in a concise, grammatically parallel form.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
Mrs Barrett, an English-speaking woman who lives in your town, has advertised for someone to help her in her home for a few hours a day next summer. Write a letter to Mrs Barrett. In your letter:
- suggest how you could help her in her home
- say why you would like to do this work
- explain when you will and will not be available
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.