You would like to participate in a work-related seminar in another country. Write a letter to the person in charge of the seminar. In your letter: - ask for information about the seminar dates - ask for details of the programme - ask about accommodation - ask about the cost
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam, I am writing to request some information regarding the seminarconference that your organisation is going to holdconduct next month in Perth Australia, as advertised in the Daily Heralds. I am hoping that you will provide me with these details as soon as possible so that I can reserve my placebook my seat for the seminarworkshop. Firstly, I would like to know the exact schedule of the seminarsymposium to arrange leave from worksanction the leaves from my work. Are there any prerequisitesIs there any prerequisite to attend the seminarconclave? If so, what are they? Secondly, the venue details with a navigational map would be highly appreciated as I will be travelling to Perth for the first time. Are the participants expected to bring their personal laptops and other stationery? Finally, who would be responsible for the accommodation - the participants themselves or your organisation? Can I arrange my own accommodationbook a hotel of my own? What will be the total cost for a participant from the UK, and is thereand if there is an early bird discount provided that booking is done well in advance? I am hoping to receive your reply before next Friday. Your help and time will be greatly appreciated. Yours faithfully,
Dev Odedra
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter has a clear formal purpose and covers the requested timing, programme, accommodation, and cost information through specific questions. Its main weakness is lexical precision: several elaborate word choices and collocations sound unnatural, while the programme questions focus more on logistics than seminar content. The strongest improvement would be to use direct, idiomatic wording and ask specifically about sessions, speakers, or the daily programme.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
All four bullet points are addressed in a suitably formal letter, although details about the seminar programme itself are somewhat indirect.
Ask explicitly about the programme's sessions, topics, or speakers instead of relying mainly on questions about prerequisites and equipment.
Coherence and Cohesion
The request progresses clearly through scheduling, practical arrangements, accommodation, and cost, with effective signposting despite limited paragraphing.
Group the opening, programme questions, and travel and cost questions into separate paragraphs and avoid placing two major topics under Finally.
Lexical Resource
There is a broad range of vocabulary, but conspicuous choices such as conclave, sanction the leaves, and navigational map reduce naturalness and precision.
Prefer straightforward collocations such as take leave from work, seminar, venue map, and reserve a place.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The letter uses varied complex structures with generally clear meaning, though several questions contain article, agreement, punctuation, or coordination errors.
Correct structures such as any prerequisites and rewrite the final cost question as two complete, separately formed questions.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You would like to participate in a work-related seminar in another country. Write a letter to the person in charge of the seminar. In your letter:
- ask for information about the seminar dates
- ask for details of the programme
- ask about accommodation
- ask about the cost
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.