You will move to a new city for work. You know some people who live there. Write a letter to someone you know who lives there. In your letter: - ask them for help in finding accommodation - tell them where you would like to live - tell them the type of place you are looking for
Sample Response
Dear Annie, I hope you're doing fineHope you're doing fine. It’s been a while since we wrote to each othersince we've written to each other. You'll be glad to hear that I'll be moving to London soonI'll move to London soon to take a job that I've been offered at Liberty Global. I'll arrive in LondonI'll reach London in a few weeks. As you know, I've never been to London, and I wasam hoping you could help me findhelp me in finding suitable accommodation. Though my company has arranged a studio apartment for the first two weeks, I'll have to move outvacate the place after that. My preference would be to live close to my workplace, which is in central London, as it would save a lot of time. If I could get something near a tube station and local shopsnear the tube station and the marketplace, that would be great. I'm mostly looking for a furnished studio apartment. If athe studio apartment is not available, I would not mind sharing a flat with another womansharing a flat with a girl. The placeBut the apartment should be spacious with good ventilationa good ventilation facility. My budget is around £1,000$1000 pounds for the studio apartment and half of that for a room in a shared flatfor the shared room. Do you think I will find something within that budgetget something in that budget? I know you have a wide social circle there, and I would really appreciate your taking the time to help me find suitable accommodationappreciate your time to find me suitable accommodation. Looking forward to meeting you soon. Warm wishes, Preeti
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter clearly asks for accommodation help and gives useful detail about the preferred area, property type, alternatives, and budget in a friendly tone. Its main limitation is imprecise phrasing, including “ventilation facility,” “$1000 pounds,” and an awkward request for the friend’s time. Prioritise natural housing vocabulary and accurate currency expression while retaining the effective level of practical detail.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
All three bullet points are fully addressed with relevant detail about location, accommodation type, alternatives, facilities, and budget.
Clarify whether the stated budget is monthly and use one currency so the friend can search more effectively.
Coherence and Cohesion
The ideas progress logically from the move to location preferences, property requirements, budget, and the final request, despite limited paragraphing.
Divide the message into short functional paragraphs so the request, preferences, and budget can be found immediately.
Lexical Resource
There is a good range of practical housing vocabulary, but several collocations and expressions are imprecise or unnatural.
Use phrases such as “well ventilated,” “flat-share,” and “help me find accommodation,” and remove the mixed currency expression.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Varied sentence structures and conditionals are generally well controlled, with a few article, preposition, and fragment errors.
Revise fragments such as “Hope you’re doing fine” and “Looking forward to meeting you” into complete sentences and check article use.
Write this task while it is fresh
Try the same task now. It helps you remember the feedback and write better next time.
IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You will move to a new city for work. You know some people who live there. Write a letter to someone you know who lives there. In your letter:
- ask them for help in finding accommodation
- tell them where you would like to live
- tell them the type of place you are looking for
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.