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 very interested in attending the seminarvery excited about the seminar on "Risk Management in the Financial Industry" that you are organisingthat will be organised by you in Edinburgh, United Kingdom. However, the information thatinformation, that I received from the advert in a local newspaper doeslocal newspaper, does not include the dates, programme outlineprogram outlines, accommodation arrangementsplan and the cost. I currently work in a financial institution in Italy and have spent over five5 years in the risk management sectorRisk Management sector. Thus, the seminarThus the seminar will be immensely useful to me in addressingfacing current risk management issues. I hope thatI am hoping that you will provide me with further detailsgive me further details about the seminar. Firstly, please provide me with the actual date and agenda of the workshop with the detailed program structure. Are there any prerequisites for attending itprerequisites to attend it? Secondly, what would be the cost of reserving a placecost to book the seat and what international payment methods are accepted? Lastly, will you handle the hotel bookings for international participantshotel booking for the international participants? If so, what would be the approximate cost? Thank you in advance. I look forwardI am looking forward to hearing from you soon. Yours faithfully, Cyril Chinkata
Why this response received Band 7.5
The letter gives relevant professional context and asks clearly about dates, programme content, prerequisites, fees, payment methods, accommodation arrangements, and hotel costs. Its strongest feature is complete coverage through focused, practical questions in an appropriate formal tone. The main limitation is minor awkward phrasing and one-paragraph presentation; prioritise concise idiomatic enquiry language and group the programme, payment, and accommodation questions into readable paragraphs.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
All four required areas are fully covered with useful additional questions about prerequisites, payment methods, and international participant arrangements.
Ask whether the quoted seminar cost includes materials or accommodation so the total financial request is even more precise.
Coherence and Cohesion
The enquiry follows a logical sequence from background and purpose to programme, cost, and accommodation questions.
Place the contextual introduction and each main enquiry area in short paragraphs rather than relying mainly on 'Firstly', 'Secondly', and 'Lastly'.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is varied and appropriate for a professional seminar enquiry, with only a few awkward collocations.
Replace 'facing current risk management issues' and 'book the seat' with 'addressing current risk-management challenges' and 'reserve a place'.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A range of sentence forms is generally accurate, and minor punctuation and article issues do not impede communication.
Remove unnecessary commas around the relative clause and use forms such as 'the advertisement did not include the dates or programme outline'.
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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.