You are applying for a job and need a letter of reference from someone who knew you when you were at college. Write a letter to one of your old teachers asking for a reference. In your letter: - say what job you have applied for - explain why you want this job - suggest what information the teacher should include
Sample Response
Dear Mr Joey Morgan, It is great to have this opportunity to communicate with such a respected teachera great and learned person like you again, and I also hope that you are doing well. DeleteActually, I am writing this letter to ask you to writerequest you to write me a letter of reference since I have applied for the position of Quality Control Officer at a very prestigious garmentgarments factory in our country. DeleteBy the way, this job would be importantwould prove out to be important for me since it would allow me to gain some valuable experience in different kinds of garment productsgarments items before starting my own clothing exporting business someday. The The factory managementgarments factory authority has no problem with my qualifications, skills and other credentials, but they want to learn a bit more about my academic life, extracurricular activitiesextra-curricular activities, soft skills as well as my professional life, and hence the request for the reference letter. They want to know things like how serious and punctual a studenthow serious and punctual student I really was as a college student, and what soft skills I had as a student. So, I would like to request you to prepare a letter of reference for me so that I can finally get the job to fulfil my long-term career goalultimate career aspiration. Yours sincerely, Peter Comb
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter clearly states the job, explains its relevance to the writer's career plans, and gives the teacher useful areas to cover, so its communicative purpose is achieved. Its main limitation is a dense, wordy presentation with casual transitions, awkward collocations, and overlong sentences; the highest-priority improvement is to organize the request into three focused paragraphs and replace inflated phrasing with concise, precise formal language.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The response clearly asks an old teacher for a reference, identifies the Quality Control Officer role, explains the career reason, and suggests relevant information to include. The purpose is achieved, though some details are wordy and the exact relationship from college could be sharper.
Add one specific reminder of your college course or achievement so the teacher has clearer reference material.
Coherence and Cohesion
The letter has a clear overall progression, but it is written as one dense paragraph and uses some conversational transitions such as "Actually" and "By the way" that weaken formal cohesion.
Divide the letter into three paragraphs and use direct topic sentences rather than casual linking phrases.
Lexical Resource
There is a good range of vocabulary related to employment, qualifications, and career plans. Some collocations are awkward or overblown, including "prove out to be important" and "garments items".
Replace inflated phrases with precise work-related language and avoid repeating "soft skills" and "reference letter" unnecessarily.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Most sentences are understandable and several complex structures are attempted. Accuracy is reduced by article errors, word order problems, and long sentences with too many clauses.
Shorten the longest sentences and check article and word-order patterns such as "a serious and punctual student".
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You are applying for a job and need a letter of reference from someone who knew you when you were at college. Write a letter to one of your old teachers asking for a reference. In your letter:
- say what job you have applied for
- explain why you want this job
- suggest what information the teacher should include
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.