IELTS informal letter: Apologising to a friend for missing their party
Informal letterApology · General Training
The task
You missed a friend’s birthday party last weekend. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter • apologise and explain why you missed the party • say how you felt about missing it • suggest a way to celebrate together Write at least 150 words. You do NOT need to write any addresses at the top of your letter. Begin your letter as follows: Dear Chloe,
Write your letter
Then get an estimated band, with checks on every bullet point, your tone and the letter format.
0 words · 150 more to reach 150
Write your own letter first, then compare. Reading a model before you write tends to make you copy it.
The plan
- Opening: the apology straight away.
- Bullet 1: what happened.
- Bullet 2: how you felt.
- Bullet 3: a specific plan to make up for it.
- Close: warm wishes and an informal sign-off.
Model letter
176 wordsDear Chloe,
I’m so sorry I missed your birthday party on Saturday. I feel terrible about it, and I wanted to explain what happened.
On Saturday morning, my brother called to say that our father had been taken to hospital with chest pains. I jumped straight on the first bus home, and I spent the rest of the weekend there with my family. Luckily, it turned out not to be serious, and Dad is back home and feeling much better now.
I was really disappointed to miss your party, though. I’d been looking forward to it for weeks, and I’d even bought you a present. When I saw all the photos online, it looked like you had an amazing time, and I wished I could have been there.
I’d love to make it up to you. How about we go out for dinner next Friday at that Italian restaurant you love? It’ll be my treat, and I can finally give you your present!
Let me know if Friday works for you. Happy birthday again!
Love,
Zainab
The highlighted paragraph states the purpose; each paragraph after it covers one bullet point. Scored by the MyBandPrep checker on 7 October 2026. An estimate, not an examiner’s mark. How scoring works
Why it works
- Task Achievement
- The apology and reason come first, and each bullet is fully covered with personal detail. The suggestion is concrete, which makes the purpose of the letter feel complete.
- Coherence and Cohesion
- The letter flows from explanation to feelings to the plan. Linking is informal and natural (Luckily, though, How about…).
- Lexical Resource
- Idiomatic, friendly language: feel terrible, jumped straight on, make it up to you, my treat.
- Grammatical Range and Accuracy
- Past perfect used accurately for earlier events (had been taken, I’d been looking forward), and a range of complex sentences.
Phrases worth reusing
- I’m so sorry I missed
- I feel terrible about it
- I’d love to make it up to you.
- How about we