You are applying for a job and need a letter of reference from someone who knew you when you were at school. Write a letter to one of your old teachers asking for a reference. In your letter: - say what job you have applied for - explain why you want this job - suggest what information the teacher should include
Sample Response
Dear Mrs Edwards,
I hope you are doing well. I am writing this letter to request a referenceget a reference letter from you for my job application.
I have been working as an intern developerIntern Developer at Technology Factory for six months and have become eligiblebecame eligible to apply for a permanent position as a Junior Developer. Even though there were hundreds of other interns, only a handful of them werewas eligible to apply as eligibility was based entirely onthis was purely based on academic qualifications and performance during the training. The employer’s background checkThe background check they do requires all the academic details from elementary school through my master’s degreeto master.
Furthermore, as you are aware,as you are aware that I have ageing parents and young siblings, my career progress is important. IfIn case if I amget selected for this position, I would be able to help resolve many of my family’s problemssolve many of my family problems. Moreover, this job will enable me to work in the client’s premisesclient place and acquire skills that are in high demandhighly demanded in the market.
I would request you to send me a reference letter that contains my dates of enrolment and graduationdetails of my joining and last date at school. It is also necessary to include my higher secondary and high school gradesaggregates. I am sure that you can find these records in the school officeour office room. Furthermore, it would be really helpful if you could comment on my interpersonal skillsadd a few points to my soft skills as they are highly regarded by the employermy employers.
I am looking forward to your response.
Kind regards, [Your name]Kind Regards,
Why this response received Band 6.5
The letter has a clear purpose, covers all three requested points with relevant detail, and maintains a suitably respectful tone. Its main weakness is recurring imprecision in grammar and word choice, which makes several otherwise understandable statements sound unnatural; the highest-priority improvement is to revise collocations and sentence structures so that details about qualifications, family circumstances, and the requested reference are expressed more accurately.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The purpose is clear, all bullet points are developed, and the respectful register suits a request to a former teacher.
Make the requested contents of the reference more precise and relevant by distinguishing factual school records from the teacher's personal assessment.
Coherence and Cohesion
Information progresses logically through the job, motivation, and requested reference details, with effective paragraphing.
Reduce the repeated use of additive linkers such as 'Furthermore' and 'Moreover' to make connections feel less mechanical.
Lexical Resource
The letter uses a reasonably broad range of vocabulary, but several collocations such as 'client place' and 'add a few points to my soft skills' are inaccurate.
Choose more natural professional phrases, such as 'work at a client's premises' and 'comment on my interpersonal skills.'
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A mix of simple and complex structures communicates the message clearly, although agreement and clause-construction errors recur.
Check structures including 'a handful of them were,' 'as you are aware,' and conditional phrasing without the double form 'in case if.'
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You are applying for a job and need a letter of reference from someone who knew you when you were at school. Write a letter to one of your old teachers asking for a reference. In your letter:
- say what job you have applied for
- explain why you want this job
- suggest what information the teacher should include
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.