IELTS Writing Task 1: Sample Letters

Anyone taking the IELTS General Training test is required to write a letter for Writing Task 1. To show you what a strong letter looks like, I asked our Academic team to produce some Task 1 sample letters.

All of these Task 1 sample letters would easily score a Band 7, 8 or 9 in the IELTS Task 1 exam.

What do you think of them? Did you find anything about them surprising?

Join in the discussion in the comments below!

Informal Letters

Task 1 Sample #1:

You are going on holiday next week and you need to ask your friend to watch your dog while you are away.

Write a letter to your friend. In your letter,

• state how long you will be away
• tell them what needs to be done
• state how you will compensate them

Click here to download and read the sample answer.

Task 1 Sample #2:

Your friend from overseas is coming to visit you next month.

Write a letter to your friend. In your letter,

• tell them what they need to bring
• tell them what they will be doing during the time they are visiting
• warn them about some things that might be challenging

Click here to download and read the sample answer.

Read our guide to writing informal letters here: Informal Letters.

Formal Letters

Task 1 Sample #3:

You have recently learned about an opening for an internship at a local company that you are interested in.

Write a letter to the director of the company. In your letter,

• introduce yourself
• explain how you learned about the internship
• explain why you would be suitable for the internship

Click here to download and read the sample answer.

Task 1 Sample #4:

You live in an apartment building but are having trouble with the behavior of your neighbors. Write a letter to inform the building manager of the situation. In your letter,

• explain who you are
• describe the situation concerning your neighbors’ behavior
• suggest how the situation could be dealt with

Click here to download and read the sample answer.

Read our Task 1 formal letters guide here: Formal Letters.

How to Best Use These Task 1 Sample Letters

1. Start off by reading the questions – NOT the answers.
2. Attempt to answer the question under exam conditions.
3. Compare your letter with the sample answer.
4. Pay attention to the ways the writer used structure, organisation, vocabulary, and grammar.
5. Go back and improve your original answer by using some of the elements you noticed in the Writing Task 1 sample letter.

Formal vs. Informal Letters

Many students struggle to know when to write a formal or informal letter.

Our rule is simple: if the instructions tell you to write to ‘a friend’, you should write an informal letter.

In all other situations, you will write a formal letter.

Keep it simple!

Further Reading

• The IELTS Advantage Guide to Writing Task 1: read it here.
• Our IELTS Preparation Guide: read it here.
• Top 6 Mistakes General Training Students Make: read it here.

Next Steps

For detailed help with improving your letter-writing skills, you should sign up to our IELTS Fundamentals Course. It’s completely free of charge and will give you exclusive access to:

• Never-seen-before IELTS videos;
• Practice questions for each section of the test;
• Answer sheets to help you identify your mistakes.

Learn more about it and sign up here: IELTS Fundamentals.

As always, please reach out via email if you need anything: chris@ieltsadvantage.com

Our team of IELTS experts are always happy to help.