Write a letter of at least 150 words in about 20 minutes that covers all three bullet points in the task. Decide first whether it is formal, semi-formal or informal from who you are writing to, then keep the tone, opening and closing consistent with that choice.
At a glance
- Length
- At least 150 words
- Time
- About 20 minutes
- Weight
- Task 1 is worth half as much as Task 2
- Criteria
- Task Achievement, Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range and Accuracy
How to do it
- Decide the tone: a company or official is formal, someone you know by name is semi-formal, a friend is informal.
- Open to match: "Dear Sir or Madam" (formal, ending "Yours faithfully"), "Dear Mr Khan" (ending "Yours sincerely"), or "Dear Sara" (ending "Best wishes").
- State the purpose in the first paragraph.
- Give each bullet point its own paragraph and develop it with a detail or two.
- Close with what you want to happen next, then sign off.
Common mistakes
- Missing or barely touching one of the three bullet points.
- Mixing tones, such as a friendly opening with a formal ending.
- Not making the purpose clear until the end.
A real practice task
From Skillora IELTS General Training Mock Test 1 · Writing Task 1
You recently stayed at a hotel and, after you left, you realised that you had left a bag in your room.
Write a letter to the hotel manager. In your letter
- give details of your stay
- describe the bag and what was in it
- explain what you would like the hotel to do
Write at least 150 words. You do NOT need to write any addresses.
Begin your letter as follows: Dear Sir or Madam,
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