1. Understand the task
Use this original General Training Task 1 practice to work on a clear complaint purpose, complete task coverage and consistent formal register. Write at least 150 words and allow about 20 minutes for the whole task. These length and timing points follow official IELTS Writing format guidance.
This is General Training letter practice. Academic Task 1 uses visual information instead. The letter scenario is invented, and no real message will be sent.
Original practice task
Missing equipment at a booked event
You hired a room at a community centre for a volunteer training evening. You also paid to hire a projector, but no projector was available when the event began. Write a letter to the centre manager, whom you have not met. In your letter:
- describe the booking and the equipment you expected;
- explain how the missing projector affected the evening;
- say what you would like the manager to do.
Begin your letter “Dear Sir or Madam,”. Write at least 150 words. You do not need postal addresses. You may invent reasonable details that remain consistent with the situation.
Allow about 20 minutes including planning and checking. This timer counts up and does not submit your writing.
2. Make a focused plan
Decide the relationship before choosing vocabulary. You do not know this manager personally, and you are asking the organisation to resolve a service problem. A respectful formal style fits. Formal does not mean ornate: “I am writing about…” is clearer than a long ceremonial opening that delays the purpose.
- State the purpose immediately. Identify a complaint about the missing projector, rather than opening with a general description of the centre.
- Make the booking traceable. Supply a plausible date, room name and equipment charge. Invented details support this practice task; they must not contradict it.
- Explain a concrete consequence. The volunteers could not see the planned slides, so training had to be adapted and took longer. Develop the effect rather than merely calling the service “bad”.
- Request a proportionate response. Ask for the projector charge to be returned and for future equipment bookings to be checked. The manager should know exactly what action would address the complaint.
A useful plan gives one short purpose paragraph, one paragraph about the booking and problem, one about the effect, and one about the requested remedy. That is a practical option for this scenario, not a fixed paragraph rule. The letter’s three content points matter more than a memorised template. Pair the supplied greeting with the conventional closing “Yours faithfully”.
Write your own response
Your draft is not submitted or saved by this site. Copy it somewhere safe before leaving or reloading. The approximate word counter checks length, not quality.
3. Compare the annotated model
Write first, then compare choices rather than memorising phrases. This original model is an instructional example, not an examiner-marked response; no band score is claimed.
Read the model and paragraph notes
Dear Sir or Madam,
I am writing to complain about the absence of a projector during a volunteer training evening that I organised at your community centre last Thursday.
I booked the Cedar Room from six until eight and paid an additional £30 to hire a projector. The equipment was listed on my booking confirmation, so I prepared a presentation containing photographs and instructions. However, when we arrived, the staff member on duty could not find a projector or arrange a replacement.
As a result, twelve volunteers had to share printed notes instead of viewing the demonstration together. Several of the photographs were too small to explain clearly, and we spent an extra half hour discussing points that the presentation would have illustrated. This delayed the end of the session and inconvenienced people who had arranged transport home.
I would therefore appreciate a refund of the projector hire charge. I would also be grateful if you could confirm how equipment will be checked before future bookings, as our group hopes to use the centre again. A reply within the next week would help me finalise our event expenses.
Yours faithfully,
Sam Patel
Why this response is organised this way
- The first paragraph names the problem and event, so the purpose is clear before supporting detail appears.
- The booking paragraph covers the first task point and establishes the difference between what was confirmed and what was supplied.
- The consequences paragraph develops the second point through a practical effect, without insulting individual staff members.
- The final paragraph covers the requested remedy and gives a reason for the suggested reply period. Polite conditional forms soften the request without making it vague.
4. Practise a precise revision
A learner writes: “Your workers were useless. Give me all my money back immediately. I was very unhappy.” Revise this into two or three sentences that explain the consequence and request a specific response. Keep the complaint firm, but remove personal abuse and the unsupported demand for every booking cost.
Compare one precise revision
“Because no projector was available, I had to replace the planned presentation with printed notes, which made the training less clear. I would appreciate a refund of the £30 equipment charge and confirmation that equipment availability will be checked before our next booking.”
This version names the missing service, explains its effect and requests a remedy linked to that service. It does not assume the room itself was unusable. Other polite solutions are possible, including a credit if that is what the writer wants; the important point is to make the desired action explicit.
Check task coverage, not just tone
Which task point is still missing from this outline: “The projector did not arrive. Please refund its cost. I hope to hear from you soon”?
Check the missing development
The effect on the evening is missing, and the booking detail is too thin. Add what the group had planned to show, how the writer adapted and why that caused difficulty. Politeness cannot substitute for answering the task. Equally, a long account of frustration cannot replace the requested action.
5. Review and try again
Label each paragraph with the task point it develops. If one point has only a vague phrase while another takes most of the letter, redistribute the detail. Check that the date, room, event and charge stay consistent throughout. A complaint loses clarity if it refers to a workshop in one place and a birthday party elsewhere.
Read the request on its own. Could the recipient act on it without asking what you want? Then review register: replace chat abbreviations, exaggerated accusations and overly familiar greetings. You do not need elaborate vocabulary to sound formal. For a second attempt, keep the same scenario but request a credit against a future booking, adjusting the final paragraph so the remedy remains clear and the letter still covers all three points.
Format checked on 15 October 2026 against IELTS Writing format. Task, model, visual material and practice explanations are original. This independent lesson is not an official IELTS test.