IELTS General Training Writing Task 1: how to write the letter

The General Training letter looks like the easy half of the Writing test, because everyone has written a letter. It is marked like any other answer, though, and the ways to lose marks are specific: the wrong register for the person you are writing to, a bullet point answered in a clause, a purpose that arrives in the last line. This guide takes the task apart one decision at a time. The post on General Training letters shows the three tones side by side, so this page does not repeat it and spends its words on choosing, covering and planning.

What IELTS.org asks for

IELTS.org’s General Training Writing format page says that in Task 1 you are given a situation and write a response of at least 150 words in the form of a letter. Three bullet points tell you what to include. The page says the style depends on who you are asked to write to and how well you are supposed to know them, and that it can be personal, semi-formal or formal. It gives examples such as writing to a college accommodation officer about problems, or to a local newspaper about a plan. You should spend no more than 20 minutes on the task.

The same page says you will be penalised if what you write is not related to the topic, and that you must not use notes or bullet points. Plagiarism is severely penalised. The whole test is set out in the IELTS Writing test format guide.

What Task Achievement asks

The site’s Writing band descriptors explorer paraphrases Task Achievement for General Training in these terms. At band 5, the letter touches every prompt but covers none properly, the reason for writing is not clear to the reader, and the level of formality drifts. At band 6, the reason is clear early, every prompt is answered with enough room, and the register is mostly right, though it may slip. At band 7, the purpose is stated plainly, the tone fits the reader all the way through, and each prompt is answered visibly and given weight. The prompts may be covered rather than developed.

Three things matter: a clear purpose, all three points and a consistent register.

Choosing the style from the recipient

Before you write, ask two questions, both from IELTS.org’s sentence: who is the reader, and how well do you know them? Then place the reader on a scale.

• Personal. A friend, a relative, someone you are close to. You write as you would speak to them, and contractions and warmth are natural.
• Semi-formal. Someone you know a little or deal with regularly but are not close to: a neighbour, a colleague from another team, a teacher, a landlord you have met. Polite and clear, without stiff phrases.
• Formal. An organisation or a stranger: a company, a council, an editor, a manager you have never met. Complete sentences, no contractions, and respectful phrasing.

IELTS.org publishes no table that maps each recipient to a style, so this is a reading of the sentence, not a rule from the test. If a prompt could be read either way, decide quickly, hold the choice and write consistently. A consistent choice is easier to defend than a mix.

Openings and closings

The greeting and the sign-off signal your register at the two ends of the page. The pairs below are conventional English. IELTS.org requires none of them, and the descriptors look at whether the whole letter matches the reader.

Then give your purpose in the first sentence or two. For a formal letter: “I am writing to ask whether…” or “I am writing to report a problem with…”. For a personal letter: “I wanted to let you know…” or “I’m writing to ask for a favour.” A purpose in the opening lines is what the band 6 and 7 descriptors look for, and it saves the reader from inferring it.

For the last line before the sign-off, name a next step: “I look forward to hearing from you” in a formal letter, “Please let me know what you think” in a semi-formal one, “Write back soon” in a personal one.

Covering all three bullet points

The task gives you three bullet points because they are the content you must cover. The safest layout is a short opening paragraph that states the purpose, then one paragraph for each bullet point in the order given, then a closing line. Four short paragraphs of about 40 words each reach 150 words without padding.

Two habits prevent the usual failures. First, plan the three points before you write, with one concrete detail for each, so that you do not run out of ideas for the third. Second, check the balance before you finish: if the first point has five sentences and the third has half of one, move your words. The explorer’s traps list names exactly this pattern, spending the letter on the prompt you have the vocabulary for.

You may invent details to make a point concrete, such as a date or the name of a street, as long as they fit the situation. A detail that contradicts the prompt, for example a “recurring” problem when the prompt says it started yesterday, is a Task Achievement error.

An invented prompt and an outline

This prompt is invented for illustration and is not from a past paper. It is not a model answer either.

The lift in the building where you rent a flat has been out of order for three weeks. Write a letter to the building manager. In your letter: - describe the problem - explain how it affects you and other residents - say what you would like the manager to do

Style. You have not met the manager, so formal: “Dear Sir or Madam,” and “Yours faithfully,” if no name is given.

Paragraph 1, purpose. One sentence: “I am writing to report that the lift in the building has been out of order for three weeks and to ask for it to be repaired.”

Paragraph 2, the problem. When it stopped, what happens when you press the button, and whether anyone has told you why.

Paragraph 3, the effect. One concrete example for you, such as carrying shopping to the fifth floor, and one for others, such as an elderly neighbour who now stays indoors.

Paragraph 4, the request and close. What you want: a repair date, and written confirmation of it. Close with a next step and the formal sign-off.

Notice that the request is a specific action, not a hope that someone will look into it. That is the difference the band 7 descriptor describes between a polite letter and one that asks for something.

Tone and register traps

• A formal letter that relaxes. It opens with “I am writing to” and ends with “Anyway, hope you’re well.” Read one sentence from the middle and ask whether it fits the greeting.
• Contractions and slang in a complaint to an organisation. Natural in a personal letter, out of place in a formal one.
• The same formality for a friend and a company. Stiff phrasing to a friend is as much a mismatch as chat to a company.
• A request buried under background. Two paragraphs of context, then the point in the last line.
• A polite letter that never asks for anything. A reader should know what you want to happen.
• Three bullet points answered in a single paragraph, or one answered by a clause attached to another.
• A fourth subject. The task gave you three, and a new topic uses words the three needed.

Checking your letter

When you have finished, count the three bullet points, read the greeting and the sign-off, and check your first lines for the purpose. IELTS Mentor AI marks General Training letters with the four criterion bands and shows what worked and how to improve for each criterion, which tells you whether a lost mark was Task Achievement, structure, vocabulary or grammar.

Where this fits

The letter is Task 1 of the General Training Writing test, and Task 2 contributes twice as much to the Writing score, so keep to the 20 minutes. Academic candidates should read charts, graphs and tables and process diagrams and maps instead. The answer on how long the Writing test is has the timing.