Dear James, I was very shocked to get your letter saying that the noise from my flat has been spoiling your evenings and causing you some distress. I am about that. I had no idea that you would be able to hear so much, so I hope you will accept my apologies. As you may have guessed, I am trying to refit my kitchen in the evenings when I get home from work. all than expected and I have been having problems with getting things to fit properly. This has of banging and hammering. As the kitchen is still not finished, I have decided to call in a professional builder who will finish the work . He’ll work only during daytime hours, so you won’t be disturbed in the evenings again, I promise. Sorry to have caused these problems, Bill.
Letter to Neighbours Apologising for Noise
Your neighbours have recently written to you to complain about the noise from your house / flat. Write a letter to your neighbours. In your letter: - explain the reasons for the noise - apologise - describe what action you will take
Annotated response
5 correction notes
Showing 5 correction notes.
Overall assessment
Why this response received Band 7.5
The letter fully achieves its communicative purpose, covering all three bullet points with a suitably apologetic and friendly tone and well-chosen detail. The main limitation is occasional imprecise phrasing and minor grammatical slips that prevent a fully natural, error-free performance.
IELTS criteria
How each score was decided
Task Achievement
8.0The letter directly addresses all three required points, explaining the renovation noise, apologising sincerely, and promising concrete action, with an appropriately warm and apologetic register.
Coherence and Cohesion
7.0Ideas are logically organised in paragraphs that mirror the bullet points with effective linking, though a few transitions are slightly informal or loose.
Lexical Resource
7.0Vocabulary is flexible and natural for a semi-formal apology, with good collocations like 'causing you some distress' and 'call in a professional builder', despite occasional awkward phrasing.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
7.0A good range of sentence structures is used with generally accurate control, including complex forms, though minor errors such as 'This has meant to a lot of banging' appear.