IELTS General Training Writing Task 1: the complete letter guide

In General Training Writing Task 1, you read a short everyday situation and write a letter about it: to a company, a landlord, a manager or a friend. You have about 20 minutes and need at least 150 words. It counts for a third of your Writing score; Task 2 counts for the other two thirds.

The letter is the more predictable of the two tasks. Every question has the same shape, and the same plan works for all of them.

What the task looks like

Every task has three parts:

• A situation, ending with who to write to: "Write a letter to your landlord."
• Three bullet points that say what the letter must cover.
• A greeting to start with: "Begin your letter as follows: Dear ……………,"

You recently ordered a piece of furniture from an online shop. It arrived late and was damaged. Write a letter to the customer service manager. In your letter: give details of your order; describe the problems with the delivery; say what you would like the company to do.

You don't need to write any addresses. Start with the greeting.

Three tones: who are you writing to?

The reader decides the tone, and the tone decides the greeting, the sign-off and the language in between.

If the task gives "Dear Sir or Madam", you are writing a formal letter. If it gives "Dear ……………," with no name, decide from the reader: a friend gets their first name; anyone else gets a title and surname.

The formal, semi-formal and informal guides go deeper into each one.

The plan: the same shape every time

1. Greeting, on its own line.
2. Purpose: one or two sentences saying why you are writing.
3. Bullet point 1, in its own paragraph.
4. Bullet point 2, in its own paragraph.
5. Bullet point 3, in its own paragraph.
6. Closing line: what happens next, or a friendly line.
7. Sign-off and your name.

That gives you three paragraphs of about 40 to 50 words each, plus a short opening and close: roughly 170 to 190 words in total. Aim for that, not 250. A longer letter has more room for mistakes and takes time away from Task 2.

Every bullet point gets its own paragraph. It is the simplest way to make sure none is missed, and the examiner can see at a glance that all three are covered.

How the letter is marked

The same four criteria as every IELTS Writing task, each worth a quarter of the Task 1 band:

• Task Achievement: are all three bullet points covered and developed? Is the purpose clear? Does the tone suit the reader and stay consistent? Is the format right?
• Coherence and Cohesion: a logical order, one idea per paragraph, natural linking.
• Lexical Resource: vocabulary that fits the situation precisely, without memorised phrases that don't fit.
• Grammatical Range and Accuracy: a mix of sentence types, mostly without errors.

The official descriptors are strict about bullet points. A letter that covers all three but develops one weakly can still reach band 6. A letter that leaves one out entirely is placed at band 4 for Task Achievement, however good the language. The band descriptors explained page has the full wording.

Develop each bullet point

"Covered" means more than mentioned. Compare:

The delivery was late and the bookcase was damaged.

The bookcase was not delivered until 16 September, almost two weeks late, and when it finally arrived, one of the side panels was cracked and several screws were missing.

The second gives a date, a comparison and two specific faults. Each bullet point needs one or two details like these: a date, a number, a reason, a result. Invent them freely; the examiner is marking your English, not checking facts.

Use your 20 minutes well

• 2 minutes: read the task, decide the tone, and note one detail for each bullet.
• 15 minutes: write.
• 3 minutes: check the greeting matches the sign-off, every bullet has its paragraph, and your common grammar mistakes.

The time management guide covers how the letter fits around Task 2.

The mistakes that cost the most

1. Missing a bullet point. The most expensive mistake there is. Tick each one off as you write it.
2. Mixing tones. "Dear Sir or Madam" followed by "Hope you're doing great!" Pick the tone first and keep it. The formal vs informal English guide shows the three levels side by side.
3. A mismatched sign-off. "Yours faithfully" goes with "Dear Sir or Madam"; "Yours sincerely" goes with a name. "Love" never goes in a formal letter.
4. A purpose buried in the middle. Say why you are writing in the first sentence.
5. Memorised openings that don't fit. "I hope this letter finds you in the pink of health" to a council sounds odd. Simple and natural is better.
6. Writing far too much. 170 to 190 words is plenty.

Practise with feedback

Read the model letters, then write your own to any of their tasks. Or paste a task from a book or past paper into the letter checker: it checks each bullet point, your tone and format, and gives an estimated band. The letter phrases guide has openings and closings for every tone.