IELTS Writing

IELTS Writing Task 1 General

In IELTS Writing Task 1 General you have to write an answer to a given situation in a letter. This letter should be at least 150 words long. You have about 20 minutes to do this task.

Task 1, General

There are several types of letters in IELTS Writing Task 1 General  See examples below:

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  • Writing to your friend about the trip you had recently
  • Writing to your boss about problems at work
  • Writing to the local newspaper with some suggestion
  • Writing to your landlord to ask to fix something in your apartment
  • Writing a formal complaint to a restaurant manager
  • Writing to your penfriend abroad to ask about their time at college

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Depending on the type of letter you will need to use different style of writing. It can be formal, informal or a combination of both. Please note that if you fail to choose the appropriate register your score will be considerably lowered. Check the page about formal and informal expressions to learn more.

Your letter is assessed based on four aspects, each making up to 25% percent of your total score.

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1.Task achievement

Your letter should be effective at delivering the message you try to make with it (If the person fully understands what you want from him after reading your letter, then you did well).

2. Coherence and cohesion

Your letter should be clear and logical. You have to use various ways to connect your sentences and paragraphs(you should use linking words and linking verbs, cohesive devices(), pronouns). You have to logically divide your letter into paragraphs.

3. Lexical resource

You should demonstrate that you know many words — and use them appropriately. Try not to repeat the same word if you know a synonym for it. Your spelling should not have mistakes.

4. Grammatical range and accuracy

You should show the knowledge of different grammatical constructions. These constructions should not have any mistakes. (If you are not sure how to use a construction, it is better to use a more simple one that you will not make any mistakes in)

We will now take some example letters from other students provided by ielts.org.

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

You live in a room in college with a roommate. It is very difficult for you to study because your roommate keeps having parties at your place. They also keep borrowing your things without asking for permission.

Write a letter to the Accommodation Officer at the college to request to be moved to a different room starting next term. You would like to have a single room this time. State and explain your reasons for that.

You should write at least 150 words.

You do NOT need to write your own address. Begin your letter as follows:

Dear Sir/Madam,

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to express my dissatisfaction with my room-mate. As your know we share one room, I can not study in the room at all any more ifI still stay there.

She always has friend visiting and has parties in the room. They make lots of noise and switch on the radio very loudly, for me this environment is very difficult to study and I need a quiet room. Even borrows my things without asking, it is very impolite.

I request you can give me a new room next term because I have been asked her has parties in other place many times they still have parties in the room. I really can not stay in the same room with her.

I would be grateful if you could change me a single room.

(138 words)

This is a Band 5 answer which is considered to be a below average mark. There is a number of typical writing mistakes present in this writing. Let’s now analyze the letter and see how it can be improved to meet the requirements of a Task 1 Band 7 level.

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