You would like to participate in a work-related seminar in another country. Write a letter to the person in charge of the seminar. In your letter: - ask for information about the seminar dates - ask for details of the programme - ask about accommodation - ask about the cost
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam, I am writing to request information aboutsome information regarding the seminarconference that your organisation is going to holdconduct next month in Perth, AustraliaPerth Australia, as advertised in the Daily Heralds. I would appreciate receivingI am hoping that you will provide me with these details at your earliest convenienceas soon as possible so that I can reserve my placebook my seat for the seminarworkshop. Firstly, I would like to know the exact schedule of the symposium to sanction the leaves from my work. Is there any prerequisite to attend the conclave? If so, what are they? Secondly, the venue details with a navigational map would be highly appreciated as I will be travelling to Perth for the first time. Are the participants expected to bring their ownpersonal laptops and any required stationeryother stationery? Finally, who is responsiblewho would be responsible for the accommodation - the participants themselves or your organisation? Can I book my own accommodationa hotel of my own? What will be the total cost for a participant from the UK, and if there is an early bird discount provided that booking is done well in advance? I hope to receiveI am hoping to receive your reply before next Friday. Your time and assistanceYour help and time will be greatly appreciated. Yours faithfully,
Dev Odedra
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter maintains a suitably formal tone and asks relevant questions about dates, programme arrangements, accommodation, and fees, so the recipient can respond usefully. Its main limitation is unnatural over-formality in several word choices and one awkwardly constructed cost question. Prioritise direct, conventional business-letter language and split combined questions into clear, grammatically complete sentences.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The purpose is clear, the formal register is appropriate, and every requested area is covered with useful questions, though programme content could be requested more directly.
Ask explicitly for the session topics or a programme schedule instead of relying mainly on questions about prerequisites and equipment.
Coherence and Cohesion
The requests progress logically through scheduling, programme matters, accommodation, and cost, although the presentation would benefit from clearer paragraph breaks.
Group related questions into distinct paragraphs and keep each transition tied to the prompt's four requested areas.
Lexical Resource
The response shows a broad formal vocabulary, but choices such as 'sanction the leaves' and 'conclave' sound unnatural or unnecessarily elaborate.
Prefer conventional phrases such as 'arrange leave from work,' 'seminar,' and 'reserve a place.'
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A range of sentence structures is used with generally clear meaning, but agreement, article use, punctuation, and question formation contain noticeable errors.
Correct the prerequisite pronoun agreement and rewrite the final cost-and-discount question as two complete questions.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You would like to participate in a work-related seminar in another country. Write a letter to the person in charge of the seminar. In your letter:
- ask for information about the seminar dates
- ask for details of the programme
- ask about accommodation
- ask about the cost
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.