Cancelling a Part-Time College Course Booking

You recently booked a part-time course at a college. You now need to cancel your booking. Write a letter to the college administrator. In your letter • say which part-time course you booked • explain why you need to cancel your booking • ask about booking a different course You do NOT need to write any addresses. Begin your letter as follows: Dear Sir or Madam,

Annotated response

2 correction notes

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am Emily Jones, and I am formally writing to request the cancellation of my booking for the Evening Photography Course at your college, which was scheduled to begin on March 15th.

Unfortunately, due to unexpected work commitments at my office, I will no longer be able to attend the course as planned. My work schedule has changed, and I am now required to stay late in the evenings, making it impossible for me to participate in the sessions.

However, I am still very interested in taking a course at your college. Could you please provide me with information about any weekend photography courses or other part-time programmes that might ? I would appreciate any guidance on how to transfer my booking or enrol in a different course.

Thank you for your assistance. I .

Yours faithfully,

Emily Jones

Overall assessment

Why this response received Band 8.0

The letter's strongest aspect is its clear, well-organised structure that covers all three bullet points with a suitably formal tone and smooth progression. The main limitation is the slight under-length and somewhat generic development of the cancellation reason and alternative-course request, which leaves the detail a little thin.

IELTS criteria

How each score was decided

Task Achievement

8.0

The letter identifies the Evening Photography Course, explains the cancellation with a work-related reason, and requests information about weekend alternatives, achieving a clear and consistently appropriate formal purpose despite being one word under the minimum length.

Coherence and Cohesion

8.0

Ideas progress logically across paragraphs with effective cohesive devices such as 'Unfortunately', 'However', and clear referencing, so the message is easy to follow throughout.

Lexical Resource

8.0

The vocabulary is flexible and precise for a formal request, with natural collocations like 'unexpected work commitments', 'transfer my booking', and 'suit my availability', showing good control with only rare, minor limitations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy

8.0

A wide range of grammatical structures, including relative clauses, a passive form, and complex conditional-style phrasing, is used accurately and flexibly with essentially error-free sentences.

More responses with feedback

View all 5 responses (7.5–8.0)