You are a student at a language school in New Zealand studying Business English. Part of the course is a summer work placement programme. Unfortunately, you have just learnt from the school that this programme has now been cancelled. Write a letter to the School Principal. In your letter: - state your reason for writing - describe the problem and your concerns - explain what you would like the Principal to do.
Sample Response
Dear Mr Scheer, I am writing to expresswriting this letter to express my deep disappointment atwith the news that the work placement programme has been cancelled this summer. One of the main reasons I chose to study Business English at your school in July and August was the chance to participate in the work placement programme. There are many English schools in New ZealandThere are many English schools in California that offer Business English, but not many thatwho offer the opportunity to work for a local companythe chance to go and work in a local company as part of the courseas part of the course programme. Your school is more expensive than competing schoolsmore expensive than the competition, but I was happy to pay extra because I thought the course programme was of better qualitywas better quality. Now, however,Now however, I am very unhappy because I have paid a substantial amountspent a lot of money and I am not receiving the course that was advertisedI am not getting the course I want. As the course programme is now substantially different from what was advertisedvery different to the one advertised, I would like to request a full refund of my course feesfull refund of the money I have paid for this course. I will try to contact other schools in New Zealandother schools in California, or maybe New York, which run Business English courses and can guarantee a work placement as part of the course. I look forward to receiving your reply. Yours sincerelySincerely, James Charlescharles
Why this response received Band 6.5
The letter communicates disappointment clearly, develops the financial concern, and makes a direct request for a refund in an appropriately formal tone. Its central weakness is the unexplained shift from a school in New Zealand to alternatives in California and New York, which undermines task relevance; presenting the content in distinct paragraphs would also improve readability. The priority is to keep every detail consistent with the given situation.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
All three bullet points are addressed, but the references to California and New York conflict with the stated New Zealand context.
Keep the location consistent with the prompt and develop the requested solution without introducing contradictory alternatives.
Coherence and Cohesion
The ideas follow a sensible sequence from disappointment to justification and refund request, but the single-block presentation weakens readability.
Separate the purpose, concerns, requested action, and closing into clearly focused paragraphs.
Lexical Resource
The response uses a sufficient range of formal complaint vocabulary, though some phrasing is generic or slightly imprecise.
Choose sharper collocations such as 'a higher-quality programme' and 'differs substantially from what was advertised.'
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Varied complex sentences are mostly accurate, while minor punctuation, capitalization, and relative-clause lapses remain noticeable.
Use commas around linking adverbs and check capitalization in the closing and the writer's name.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You are a student at a language school in New Zealand studying Business English. Part of the course is a summer work placement programme. Unfortunately, you have just learnt from the school that this programme has now been cancelled. Write a letter to the School Principal. In your letter:
- state your reason for writing
- describe the problem and your concerns
- explain what you would like the Principal to do.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.