You saw an advertisement for a tennis course in England but you have one or two problems and can’t stay the whole course. Write a letter to the course director. In your letter: - explain your interest in the course - describe your problems - find out if a refund is possible
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam, I’m writing in response to your advertisement on your website for a tennis course in Bath, England. I have always wanted to play tennis so I’m very interested in joining the course; however, I do not have my own racquets and don’t wish to buy racquets at this time. Is it possible for me to hire racquets and balls for the duration of the course? Also, I have poor eyesightAlso I have poor eyesight and have to wear glasses at all timesglasses all the time. I would like to know if your course is suitable for someone with poor eyesightsomeone like me. I’m afraid that I must be back in Malaysiahave to be back in Malaysia by 3131st December so I am unable to stay in England for the whole three weeks. Is it possible for me to get a partial refund if I needwant to leave one week before the end of the course? I’m looking forward to hearing from you. Yours faithfully, Philip Wong
Why this response received Band 8.0
The letter is clear, appropriately formal, and directly addresses the course, equipment, suitability, early departure, and refund, with consistently controlled language. Its main limitation is that the interest in the course and the practical problems are covered quite briefly, while the single-block presentation makes the sequence less easy to scan. Develop the reasons for joining slightly and separate the purpose, problems, and refund request into distinct paragraphs.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The purpose is immediately clear, all three bullet points are addressed, and the formal tone suits a letter to a course director.
Add a little more detail about the attraction of this particular course and how the stated problems affect participation.
Coherence and Cohesion
Ideas progress logically from interest and equipment concerns to early departure and the refund request, with effective linking throughout.
Use separate paragraphs for the opening purpose, practical concerns, and final refund enquiry to make the structure easier to follow.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is precise and natural for the situation, including effective terms for equipment, course duration, suitability, and a partial refund.
Broaden the description of the course itself so the language expressing interest is as specific as the practical requests.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A varied mix of simple and complex sentences is handled accurately, and punctuation supports clear communication.
Refine punctuation around short linking expressions such as “Also” to maintain consistently polished sentence boundaries.
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 saw an advertisement for a tennis course in England but you have one or two problems and can’t stay the whole course. Write a letter to the course director. In your letter:
- explain your interest in the course
- describe your problems
- find out if a refund is possible
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.