General Training Writing Task 1 · informal · invitation

An informal letter inviting a friend to birthday

You are having a birthday party next week.

Write a letter to your friend. In your letter:

invite them to your party
give details about the date, time, and location
mention some activities you have planned

Write at least 150 words. You do not need to write any addresses. Begin your letter: Dear [Name],

Band 8 sample letter

Dear Sarah,

I hope you’ve been keeping well! Can you believe another year has flown by? My birthday is coming up next week, and I would absolutely love for you to celebrate with me.

I’m hosting a get-together on Saturday, 15th July. The festivities will kick off at 7:00 p.m. at my place. Since the weather forecast looks promising, I’ve decided to hold the party in my back garden.

I’ve put quite a bit of thought into the evening. We’ll start with a casual barbecue, and later on, I’m planning to set up a projector for an outdoor movie screening of some 90s classics. I’ve also organised a few lawn games to keep things lively, and I’m sure there will be plenty of music and dancing once the sun goes down.

It really wouldn't feel like a proper celebration without you there, so I truly hope you can make it. Please let me know by Wednesday if you’re free so I can finalise the food and drinks.

Looking forward to catching up properly!

Best wishes,

Jamie

176 words. Names and details are invented; write your own.

Why this scores well

A Band 8 response clearly addresses all three bullet points with natural, cohesive language and a consistently friendly tone. A common mistake for Band 6 candidates is using overly formal or repetitive sentence structures that fail to sound like a genuine letter to a friend.

Write to a friend or relative by first name and close with Best wishes, Love or See you soon.
Contractions, phrasal verbs and a warm opening line are expected; a stiff formal tone loses marks here.
Still cover every bullet in its own paragraph; friendly does not mean unstructured.

Useful phrases from the letter

flown by: passed very quickly in a short amount of time
get-together: an informal social gathering of friends or family
festivities: the activities and events associated with a celebration
kicking off: starting or beginning an event or a process
finalise: to complete the last details of a plan
catching up: talking to someone to exchange recent life news

Write your own and get a band

Answer this prompt in a timed General Training writing test and get a band for task achievement, coherence, vocabulary and grammar, with the sentences to fix.

Practise IELTS General writing

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Frequently asked questions

Is this letter formal or informal?

Informal. Write to a friend or relative by first name and close with Best wishes, Love or See you soon.

How long should an IELTS General Training letter be?

At least 150 words, and 160 to 200 is the comfortable range. Spend about 20 minutes on it and leave 40 for Task 2, which carries twice the marks.