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 am Lia Lima, a university student and a local residenta local in the neighbourhood, writing to you to expressshow my interest in helping you with your household work next summer.
I can help you with cleaning the kitchen, cooking a few items, taking the garbage outside and doing the grocery shoppingdoing groceries. I can also iron your clothes, vacuum your floorsclean your floor with a vacuum cleaner and call the pharmacy to refill your prescriptionrefill the medicine.
I will have a long holiday this summer, and I will take a part-time computer course. It means that I will have a few hours each day to spare to work at your home while also earning some money to cover the costsupport the expenses of the part-time computer course that I am planning to takeintake.
I will be available between 9:00 am and 1:00 pm each day except Sunday. I would also be busy on Tuesdays as I visit my mother and take a dance class every Tuesday.
I am looking forward to assisting you with your work this summer and getting to know you better. For your convenience, I am attaching my details towith this letter.
Yours sincerelyfaithfully,
Lia Lima
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter is easy to follow, well organised, and gives specific information about the help offered, the writer's motivation, and exact availability. Its main weakness is a cluster of unnatural word choices and minor register or convention issues, including the sign-off after naming the recipient. The strongest improvement would be to refine collocations and use consistently natural formal-letter phrasing.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
All three bullet points are addressed with relevant detail, and the purpose and generally suitable tone remain clear throughout.
Use 'Yours sincerely' after addressing Mrs Barrett by name and state the Tuesday exception more directly.
Coherence and Cohesion
Clear paragraphing and a sensible sequence make the letter easy to follow, despite minor repetition in the availability section.
Combine the availability exceptions into one precise sentence to avoid repeating 'every Tuesday.'
Lexical Resource
The response uses a good range of household and scheduling vocabulary, though several collocations are noticeably unnatural.
Replace phrases such as 'doing groceries,' 'planning to intake,' and 'attaching my details' with idiomatic alternatives.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Varied sentence structures are used with generally good control, and the few awkward constructions do not impede meaning.
Simplify overloaded sentences, particularly the explanation of the computer course and financial motivation.
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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.