General Training Writing Task 1 · informal · making arrangements

Letter to a friend cancelling theatre plans

You and your friend have booked tickets to go to the theatre. You are now unable to go but have found another friend to accompany him/her instead.

Write a letter to your friend. In your letter:

explain why you cannot go to the theatre with your friend
say who can go instead of you
tell them why you think this person would be good to go with

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

Band 8 sample letter

Dear Sarah,

I am so incredibly sorry, but I won’t be able to make it to the theatre with you this coming Friday. Something urgent has cropped up at work, and my manager has asked me to fly to our Manchester office for an emergency meeting, which means I will be out of town for the entire weekend.

However, I have already sorted out a replacement so you won’t have to go alone. My cousin, Mark, is more than happy to take my ticket. He is currently based in the city and has been dying to see this specific production for weeks, so he was thrilled when I reached out to him.

I think he would be a brilliant companion for you. He is a huge fan of live theatre and has a great sense of humour, so I am sure you two will get along famously. He is also quite knowledgeable about the play’s history, which might make the evening even more interesting for you. I have already forwarded him the digital ticket, so you just need to arrange a meeting point.

Have a fantastic time at the show!

Best wishes,

Jamie

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

Why this scores well

This letter achieves Band 8 by addressing all three bullet points with a natural, consistent informal tone and clear, logical development. A common Band 6 error is failing to provide a specific reason for the absence or neglecting to explain why the substitute is a suitable companion, resulting in an underdeveloped response.

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

cropped up: happened unexpectedly or suddenly
sorted out: made arrangements to resolve a situation
dying to: extremely eager to do something
brilliant companion: an excellent person to spend time with
get along famously: become friends very quickly and easily
forwarded: sent an email or message to someone

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.