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 enquire aboutthis letter in relation to the upcoming seminar on “Testing Automation - Industry Standards” that”, that you are going to organise in Toronto, Canada in August 2025. I would like some further detailsI need some details and I hopeI am hoping that you will provide themprovide those to me. I am currently employed as a Software QA Manager atin a software development company in Turkey. I am keen to learn about testtesting automation tools and use automated testing, in addition to manual testing, to broaden my software quality assurance expertiseincrease my scope of software quality assurance. I learned about the test automation workshopautomation testing workshop while it was broadcastbroadcasted on a local radio station. As the advertisement was being announced while I was driving and I was unable to catch most of the information like the date and venue as well as the accommodation arrangement and cost. I would be gratefulwill be highly obliged if you could send me details ofif you can write back about the seminar programmeprogram schedule of the symposium along with the dates and venue details. Also, I would like to know how the visa support and accommodation arrangements are handledvisa and accommodation arrangements will be done and the total costalong with the total cost. Awaiting your quick response. Yours faithfully, Larissa Beilby
Why this response received Band 7.5
The letter establishes a convincing professional context and requests all the required information in an appropriately formal tone. Its effectiveness is reduced by one-block organisation and several noticeable grammatical or collocational problems, including an incomplete sentence about hearing the advertisement. The highest-priority improvement is to separate the background from the four enquiries and recast awkward sentences in clear, direct formal English.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The purpose is clear and all four required areas are covered, with relevant professional motivation and a consistently formal register.
Make the accommodation and cost requests more specific by asking what lodging is offered and whether it is included in the seminar fee.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response moves logically from professional background to the circumstances and information requests, but the single-block presentation limits clarity.
Create distinct paragraphs for the purpose, relevant background, practical enquiries, and closing request.
Lexical Resource
There is sufficient range for the professional topic, but several collocations, including "increase my scope" and "highly obliged," sound unnatural.
Use more idiomatic formal phrases such as "broaden my expertise" and "I would be grateful if you could provide."
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A mix of simple and complex structures communicates the message clearly, although several sentence-boundary and clause errors are noticeable.
Correct the fragment beginning "As the advertisement" and avoid incomplete closing constructions such as "Awaiting your quick response."
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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.