General Training Writing Task 1 · formal · giving information

Inquiry letter to an overseas English language school

You are planning to go and study English at a school overseas. You would like some information about their courses.

Write a letter to the school. In your letter:

ask about the school
say what kind of accommodation you want
mention any special requests you have (for example diet)

Write at least 150 words. You do not need to write any addresses. Begin your letter: Dear ...,

Band 8 sample letter

Dear Admissions Team,

I am writing to express my strong interest in enrolling in an intensive English language programme at your institution this coming autumn. I have heard excellent feedback regarding your academic standards and would appreciate some further details before finalising my application.

Could you please provide information concerning your curriculum structure and class sizes? I am particularly interested in knowing whether your courses focus primarily on academic writing or general conversational fluency, as I aim to improve my proficiency for professional purposes.

Regarding my stay, I would prefer to reside in a single-occupancy room within a homestay environment. I believe that living with a local family would provide an invaluable opportunity to practise my English in a natural setting while gaining insight into the local culture.

Finally, I have a specific dietary requirement that I must mention. I have a severe nut allergy, and it is essential that my host family is made aware of this for safety reasons. Furthermore, I would be grateful if you could confirm whether the school can accommodate this need throughout my time there.

I look forward to receiving your response.

Yours faithfully,

Julian Thorne

192 words. Names and details are invented; write your own.

Why this scores well

This letter achieves Band 8 by addressing all bullet points with specific, coherent details and maintaining an appropriately formal register throughout. A common Band 6 error is failing to expand on the special request or using overly simplistic, repetitive language that lacks the necessary academic tone.

Write to an organisation or someone you do not know: open with Dear Sir or Madam, close with Yours faithfully.
If you know the person's surname, use Dear Mr or Ms and close with Yours sincerely.
No contractions, no slang; polite indirect requests such as I would be grateful if you could.

Useful phrases from the letter

enrolling: officially signing up to become a student
curriculum: the subjects and content taught in a course
fluency: the ability to speak or write easily
single-occupancy: accommodation meant for only one person
homestay: living with a local family while studying
invaluable: extremely useful or helpful in many ways

Write your own and get a band

Answer this prompt in a timed General Training writing test and get a band for task achievement, coherence, vocabulary and grammar, with the sentences to fix.

Practise IELTS General writing

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Frequently asked questions

Is this letter formal or informal?

Formal. Write to an organisation or someone you do not know: open with Dear Sir or Madam, close with Yours faithfully.

How long should an IELTS General Training letter be?

At least 150 words, and 160 to 200 is the comfortable range. Spend about 20 minutes on it and leave 40 for Task 2, which carries twice the marks.