You are studying a short course in another country. Your accommodation was arranged by the course provider. There is a major problem with the accommodation. Write a letter to the course provider. In your letter: - Say what the problem is. - Describe the accommodation you thought you were getting. - Ask the provider to solve the problem.
Sample Response
Dear Mr. Schellhammer,
I am writing to complainwriting this letter to you to complain about the flat that you have arranged for me. I only moved into this flat three weeks ago, butago but the situation is already getting out of hand.
The flat is completely infested with insects, especially cockroaches. I can hear them crawling around when I am in bed, which is so frightening that I cannot sleep welltoo terrifying for me to have a good sleep. This also raises concerns about the hygiene of the whole place since I can't even leave food out in the flatleave my food around the house without fearing that cockroaches will crawl all over itwithout the fear of cockroaches being all over them.
When I asked for accommodation, I expected to haveI thought I was going to have a decent and clean place, butplace but this is definitely not what I have signed up for. I hope you can address this problem promptlylook into this problem now and call a pest control company to sort this situation out.
I am looking forward to hearing back from you. Best regards, [Your name]Best regards,
Why this response received Band 7.5
The complaint is clear, well organized, and supported by vivid, relevant details about the infestation, while the requested remedy is specific and practical. Its main limitation is that the expected accommodation is described only vaguely, and a few expressions are more conversational or awkward than ideal for a course provider. Specify the promised facilities or standards and adopt a consistently firm, professional register.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The purpose is clear and all three bullet points are covered, although the expected accommodation is described only as decent and clean.
Specify what the provider had promised, such as hygiene standards, facilities, or room condition, to develop the second bullet fully.
Coherence and Cohesion
The complaint progresses logically from the purpose to detailed effects and then the expected standard and requested solution.
Give the request for action its own paragraph so the desired remedy and response deadline receive stronger emphasis.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is sufficiently varied and often vivid, but phrases such as have a good sleep and sort this situation out are less precise or formal.
Choose more professional collocations, such as sleep properly and resolve the infestation, when addressing the course provider.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response uses a good variety of complex sentences with generally reliable control, despite a few awkward constructions and minor punctuation lapses.
Review long sentences for clause boundaries and rewrite awkward patterns such as too terrifying for me to have a good sleep.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You are studying a short course in another country. Your accommodation was arranged by the course provider. There is a major problem with the accommodation. Write a letter to the course provider. In your letter:
- Say what the problem is.
- Describe the accommodation you thought you were getting.
- Ask the provider to solve the problem.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.