You are going to study at a college in the UK next year. You would like to stay in the college Hall of Residence. Write a letter to the college. In your letter: - outline what your room needs are - outline what your food needs are - ask what alternatives are available if the college cannot provide what you want
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam, I have recently been admitted to the Physics department at your collegegranted admission to your college in the Physics department, and I am writing regarding my accommodation requirementswith respect to my accommodation requirements in the college hall of residencecollege residence hall. I am a female student from Ireland and willwould be travelling to the UK for the first time. Hence, I would like to live for my first year inspend my first year in a hall of residencea Hall of Residence so that I can stay close to campusclose to the campus and socialise with fellowother students. I would prefer the hall to be a single-sex, female-only residence and with dining facilities so that I do not need to worry about cooking for myself. In addition, I require a vegetarian meal optiona vegetarian choice as I am a vegetarian. If a college residence with the requested amenitiesthe amenities mentioned is not available, I would be willing to stay in a hallsatisfied in a hall with kitchens so I can cook. Additionally, I would prefer a single roomwould not like to share my room and I would prefer an en-suite bathroomen-suite facilities if such accommodation is availableif you have halls offering this. ThankThanking you for considering my requestyour assistance in advance. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Yours faithfully, Anna Katerina
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter gives a clear, appropriately formal account of the student's room and dietary requirements, including useful preferences for a female-only hall, a private en-suite room, dining provision, and vegetarian meals. Its main limitation is that the alternatives request is implied rather than directly asked, and the single-paragraph presentation reduces clarity. The priority is to organise each requirement separately and explicitly ask the college to outline other available options.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
Room and food needs are specifically developed, and a self-catering fallback is provided, though the request for alternative options is not fully explicit.
Ask the college directly what other residence, shared-room, catered, or self-catering arrangements it can offer if these preferences are unavailable.
Coherence and Cohesion
The information follows a sensible sequence from context to preferences and fallback arrangements, but it is presented as one dense paragraph.
Use separate paragraphs for the purpose, room requirements, food requirements, alternative arrangements, and closing request.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is appropriately formal and sufficiently precise for accommodation and dietary needs, with a few repetitive or awkward expressions.
Avoid redundancy in phrases such as 'single-sex, female-only' and use natural wording such as 'vegetarian meals' and 'self-catering facilities'.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A range of complex structures is mostly accurate and clear, although coordination, articles, and the closing phrase contain minor errors.
Refine forms such as 'a female-only hall with dining facilities', 'travel to the UK', and 'Thank you in advance for your assistance'.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You are going to study at a college in the UK next year. You would like to stay in the college Hall of Residence. Write a letter to the college. In your letter:
- outline what your room needs are
- outline what your food needs are
- ask what alternatives are available if the college cannot provide what you want
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.