You are soon going to spend three months doing work experience in an organisation. Write a letter to the manager of the organisation where you are going to do work experience. In your letter: - thank the manager for the opportunity to work experience - explain what you hope to learn from the work experience - ask some questions about the work experience you are going to do
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam,
I am Ashok Kumar, and I am writing to express my heartfelt gratitude for the opportunity you have given me to embark on a three-month work experience placement at your reputed software company. As someone deeply passionate about technology and software development, I am truly excited to be part of your team and gain hands-on experience in this dynamic industry.
During my time with your company, I hope to enhance my programming skills, gain practical knowledge of software development processes, and understand how projects are managed in a professional environment. Additionally, I am eager to collaborate with experienced developers, learn about best coding practices, and explore innovative technologies that are being used in your organisation.
Before I start, I would highly appreciate it if you could provide some details regarding my specific role, the team I will be working with, and any programming languages or tools I should familiarise myself with in advance. Also, could you let me know the expected working hours and any necessary formalities I should complete before joining?
Thank you once again for this invaluable opportunity. I look forward to your response and to starting this thrilling journey.
Yours faithfully,
Ashok Kumar
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use restrained wording Original: heartfelt Suggested revision: sincere Why it matters: Sincere sounds professional without making the thanks overly emotional.
- 2. Use precise wording Original: embark on Suggested revision: undertake Why it matters: Undertake is a more direct verb for a work placement.
- 3. Use natural collocation Original: reputed Suggested revision: respected Why it matters: Respected is the more natural adjective for a company in this context.
- 4. Avoid overstatement Original: deeply passionate Suggested revision: passionate Why it matters: Removing the intensifier keeps the formal tone measured.
- 5. Keep tone professional Original: truly excited Suggested revision: very pleased Why it matters: Very pleased conveys enthusiasm in a more restrained formal register.
- 6. Be more specific Original: this dynamic industry Suggested revision: the software industry Why it matters: Naming the field directly is clearer than using a generic promotional phrase.
- 7. Improve word order Original: best coding practices Suggested revision: coding best practices Why it matters: Coding best practices is the more conventional word order.
- 8. Reduce wordiness Original: innovative technologies that are being used Suggested revision: innovative technologies used Why it matters: The reduced relative clause expresses the same meaning more concisely.
- 9. Use natural request form Original: I would highly appreciate it if Suggested revision: I would appreciate it if Why it matters: Highly is not normally used in this polite request structure.
- 10. Use formal closing Original: this thrilling journey Suggested revision: the placement Why it matters: The placement is more precise and suitably professional in a letter to a manager.
Suggested Rewrites
- heartfelt sincere
- embark on undertake
- reputed respected
- deeply passionate passionate
- truly excited very pleased
- this dynamic industry the software industry
Why this response received Band 8.0
The letter fully achieves its purpose through a sincere thank-you, a detailed account of the technical and professional skills the writer hopes to gain, and several practical questions about the placement. Its strongest feature is the clear paragraph structure, with each section serving a distinct communicative function. Only minor phrasing is slightly ornate or less natural. Prioritize concise professional wording while retaining the excellent specificity and organization.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
All three bullet points are fully and purposefully developed with relevant thanks, learning goals and specific pre-placement questions.
Add the intended start date only if it is known, as a final practical refinement to an already complete request.
Coherence and Cohesion
Paragraphs are logically sequenced and internally focused, with clear progression from gratitude to goals, questions and closing.
Keep the closing concise so it does not repeat appreciation already expressed in the opening.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is flexible, precise and well suited to software work experience, with only occasional slightly inflated wording.
Prefer natural professional terms such as 'well-regarded company' and 'valuable experience' over more promotional alternatives.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A wide range of complex structures is used accurately, and the few minor lapses do not affect clarity.
Refine the request phrase to 'I would greatly appreciate it if' for fully natural formal usage.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You are soon going to spend three months doing work experience in an organisation. Write a letter to the manager of the organisation where you are going to do work experience. In your letter:
- thank the manager for the opportunity to work experience
- explain what you hope to learn from the work experience
- ask some questions about the work experience you are going to do
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.