General Training Writing Task 1 · informal · invitation

Letter to best friend proposing shared living arrangements

Your best friend is moving back to your city after being overseas for five years.

Write a letter to convince your friend to move in with you. In your letter:

explain how much you have missed your friend
describe how you feel about your friend's return
give reasons that you and your friend should share a home

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

Band 8 sample letter

Dear Sarah,

I was absolutely thrilled to hear the news that you are finally returning home after five long years abroad. I cannot express how much I have missed our late-night chats and spontaneous weekend adventures; life in this city has truly felt incomplete without my partner-in-crime by my side.

Your return feels like a breath of fresh air. I have been counting down the days until you touch down, and I am already planning a massive welcome-home dinner to celebrate your homecoming properly. It is high time we picked up exactly where we left off.

Since you are currently hunting for a place, why not move in with me? My spare room is sitting empty, and it would save you the stress and expense of navigating the local rental market. More importantly, we have always been great at keeping each other motivated, and I would love for us to share the cooking and the bills while enjoying each other’s company again. It just makes perfect sense for both of us.

Let me know what you think when you have a moment.

Best wishes,

Jamie

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

Why this scores well

This letter achieves Band 8 by maintaining a consistent, warm, and natural informal tone while addressing all three prompts with specific, logical details. A common Band 6 mistake is providing generic, repetitive phrases or failing to clearly explain the practical benefits of the living arrangement.

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

partner-in-crime: a close friend who participates in fun activities
homecoming: the act of returning to one's home
navigating: the process of managing a complex situation
spare room: an extra room in a house for guests
picked up exactly where we left off: resuming a relationship as if no time passed
thrilled: feeling extremely pleased and excited about something

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.