IELTS General Writing Task 1: A letter to the Accommodation Officer at the college

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

You live in a room in college which you share with another student. You find it very difficult to work there because he or she always has friends visiting. They have parties in the room and sometimes borrow your things without asking you.

Write a letter to the Accommodation Officer at the college and ask for a new room next term. You would prefer a single room. Explain your reasons.

You should write at least 150 words.

You do NOT need to write your own address. Begin your letter as follows:

Dear Sir/Madam,

Source: http://www.ielts-exam.net/general_writing_samples_task_1/141/http://www.ielts-exam.net/general_writing_samples_task_1/148/

Model answer 1

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to express my dissatisfaction with my room-mate. As your know we share one room, I can not study in the room at all any more if I still stay there.

She always has friend visiting and has parties in the room. They make lots of noise and switch on the radio very loudly, for me this environment is very difficult to study and I need a quiet room. Even borrows my things without asking, it is very impolite.

I request you can give me a new room next term because I have been asked her has parties in other place many times they still have parties in the room. I really can not stay in the same room with her.

I would be grateful if you could change me a single room.

Model answer 2

EXAMINER’S EXPLANATION

Band 5

“The answer is below the word limit and there is some repetition of the task rubric. (Length is a common problem in General Training scripts). Answers that are short lose marks because there is insufficient material in the answer for the examiner to give credit for accuracy and coherence. Despite these problems, the introduction to the letter is appropriate and the purpose of the writer is clear. The points are not always linked together well and punctuation is sometimes faulty. The sentences are kept quite simple and mistakes occur as soon as more complex structures are attempted.”

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing you to express my dissatisfaction with my roommate and request for another accommodation next term.

My main problem is that I cannot study in my room because my roommate always has friends visiting. He also has parties which usually end early in the morning, several times a week. Furthermore, he often borrows my things without asking me.

I cannot accept this situation any longer. Especially because I have very important exams next term and I really must study hard. This is why I would be very grateful if I could have another room next term. It would be most convenient for me not having to share my room with someone else.

I am looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Your faithfully,

Ivan Sidorov

EXAMINER’S EXPLANATION

Band 7

“The answer is also short. Although ideas are often provided in the task rubric, candidates are at liberty to include some of their own ideas in their answers. In this case, the candidate has attempted to incorporate some original material. The answer reads quite fluently, is well organised and there is good use of conjunctions to link points. There are some grammatical errors but these do not affect the reader greatly and there is evidence of some more complex sentence structures.”