IELTS Letter Writing / GT Writing Task 1:

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

As an international student in Sweden, you have an account with a local bank. The monthly bank transfer you receive from your parents has been delayed this month due to an error at your parents’ bank.

Write a letter to your bank. In your letter:

• introduce yourself and ask for a loan
• say why you need the money
• tell how you intend to pay back the money

You should write at least 150 words.

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

Dear Sir or Madam,

Sample Answer 1:

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am an international student at the University of Gothenburg and manage a checking account with your bank. My parents send me tuition fees and monthly expenses to your bank from Iran. Due to an error at the originating bank in Iran, I am unable to receive my payment in September. Now I am hoping you would grant me a small loan.

My account number with your branch is 000215478544, and I receive money from my parents each month. They send the money from Iran Zamin Bank in Tehran and if you look at my statement you will notice that I receive around 20 thousand Swedish Kronor on an average every month. This time a mistake from the originating bank, the Iran Zamin Bank, caused the trouble and my payment was withheld. However, I need the money to pay my house rent and my university exam fee. If I can not pay those in time, I would be in great trouble.

I would, therefore, request you to grant me a short-term loan of 30 thousand Swedish Kronor which I will repay within the next six months. I will receive the fund from my parents and once the withheld payment is disbursed, I can start repaying.

Thank you for giving the matter your attention and I hope to hear from you regarding this.

Yours faithfully,

Hassan Mustafizur

Sample Answer 2:

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am an international student studying at Lund University in Sweden. I also have an account with your bank which I opened after I had arrived in Sweden about 2 years ago. I have always managed to keep my account in good standing. But, today I am writing this letter in order to ask for a short-term loan because I will not be able to receive any money transfer anytime soon due to some errors with my parent’s bank account in my country.

Of course, my parents are trying to sort out the problem, but they told me that it would take a while before I receive any bank transfer. But, I will need the money now since I will have to pay my rent within a few days. Besides, I will need to take care of other expenses, like the costs of food and transportation.

Therefore, please grant me a loan of 2,000 Euro for a maximum period of three months.  But as soon as I receive the bank transfer from my parents, I surely will pay you back.

Yours faithfully,

Wong Lee