How To Do IELTS General Training Task 1 Writing

MODEL ANSWER BELOW

Dear Carolyn,

Thank you for agreeing to house-sit for me. If you need to contact me during my holiday,
I’ll be staying at the Imperial Hotel in Bundaberg. If it’s urgent, however, please ring my
mobile phone, which I’ll keep with me at all times. I’ve written the numbers on a sticky
note which I’ve left on the fridge.

My cat needs to be fed twice daily so each morning and evening put a handful of cat
biscuits in his dish. You will find these in the kitchen pantry. Also, please check
throughout the day to make sure he has fresh water. You can give him a small bowl of
milk in the evening.

I would like you to water my plants, too. The indoor ones in the lounge only need water
once every few days but the plants on the balcony need to be watered daily unless there
has been heavy rain. Finally, for security, please clear my mail box every day and keep
the outside lights on at night.

I look forward to seeing you on my return.

Yours,
Katie

Notice how each paragraph of the model answer perfectly answers one of the bullet points in the question. Structuring your answer like this means that you never accidentally miss out a bullet point and it makes you write in clear focused paragraphs. The answer also uses a variety of linking words, such as: however, also, and finally to make the text flow.

The above points all help the score for 'coherence and cohesion' as detailed in the IELTS band descriptors here.

Estimated band score: 9

MODEL ANSWER BELOW

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing to ask if I could please be given another room in college.

At present I share a room with another student who, unfortunately, is very noisy. This makes it very difficult for me to study. I have asked this student on many occasions to let me work quietly but there has been no change. He plays his radio or watches TV constantly and often invites friends round for parties which last till late in the night.

I have tried working in the library but it is not open at all the times I need. I am very worried about this situation, as I have to finish my final year project this term and have my final exams coming up at the end of the year.

I would be most grateful if you could please give me a room by myself or a room sharing with a student who is quiet.

I look forward to hearing from you and thank you in advance for your help.

Yours faithfully
Jan Hutt

In this answer the writer has used a variety of sentence types. They have used some short simple sentences but also longer more complex sentences when required, such as:

I am very worried about this situation, as I have to finish my final year project this term and have my final exams coming up at the end of the year.

The above sentence is a complex sentence as it contains three different pieces of information all linked together in one sentence. Often, complex sentences have words like: however, even though, although, because, and as in them. You probably write sentences using these words naturally anyway so there is no need to try and deliberately use them, you will anyway.

Demonstrating effective use of different sentence types like this help increase the grammar band score as detailed in the IELTS band descriptors here.

Estimated band score: 9

MODEL ANSWER BELOW

Dear John,

I am so glad you are coming to my part of the world. I have given your questions some thought and come up with some suggestions for you.

Firstly, I highly recommend that you stay at the Grande Sheraton on the riverside. Not only are the views incredible from all of the rooms but if you book right now they are offering a 30% discount as it is still low season.

Whilst you are here, you definitely need to check out the royal boat museum and the Grand Palace, both are well worth the entry fee. If you hav time, you should also go to Khao Sahn road and visit the travelers markets they, there are lots of bargains to be had there and also some great street food.

Right now, it is rainy season so you might want to bring a jacket, but, to be honest when it rains here it is so heavy that we normally just stay in doors and wait for it to pass.

I hope that’s the information you were looking for. Please let me know if there’s anything else I can do.

All the best,

Mark

Part of getting a good score in IELTS General is getting the tone of the letter right. It is crucial that you use the correct type of language that matches the formality of the letter.

This letter is to a friend and so should use informal language. Some of the language that makes it sound informal are:

'I'm so glad', 'come up with', and 'check out'.

These show the examiner that the writer knows how to write informally.

Demonstrating effective use of tone like this help increase the task achievement band score as detailed in the IELTS band descriptors here.

Estimated band score: 9

MODEL ANSWER BELOW

Dear Emma,

I just wanted to let you know about my new job, it has been a really exciting few weeks.

First of all, you should probably know that I had to change job because my colleagues were always gossiping about each other. It made me feel really uncomfortable to work there and I just couldn’t stand it any longer, so I quit!

My new job is much more varied and interesting. For example, most days I have to travel to one of our stores around the city and meet with the branch manager. I have to check they are hitting their key performance indicators and give them advice if they are failing. 

However, my new job is not my only piece of good news. I am also getting married next spring! Can you believe it, Phillip proposed last month on holiday, it was so romantic and I said, ‘yes’!

Anyway, I hope you are doing just as well and of course I’ll be sending you a wedding invite soon.

Take care,

Mary

This letter demonstrates 'referencing' very well. Referencing is when you talk about something you mentioned earlier without repeating its name, instead you use pronouns such as: this, they, them, this, it. This can be a difficult skill to master but the writer does it well, e.g.

I am also getting married next spring! Can you believe it

In this sentence 'it' is referring back to the fact that she is getting married. How many ore examples of referencing can you spot in the letter?

Demonstrating effective use of referencing like this helps increase the coherence and cohesion band score as detailed in the IELTS band descriptors here.

Estimated band score: 9

MODEL ANSWER BELOW

Dear Mr Kent,

I am writing to request that I may take leave without pay starting as soon as possible and until further notice.

Firstly, as you may be aware my father has been very ill recently and it seems his condition is now rather critical. Indeed I do not expect he shall last much longer.

As stated, I feel as though it would be better for me and the company if I spent as much time with him as possible. At this moment in time it is difficult for me to concentrate on anything else let alone office work. It is for these reasons that I would like to take leave with immediate effect. I do hope you understand and keep my position open for me.

In my absence I suggest that my assistant take on much of the workload but my you will need to keep a close eye on him as he is prone to errors when working under time pressure.

Yours sincerely,

Jenny

In this answer, the writer uses very natural sounding combinations of words known as collocations. Some examples they use are:

'under time pressure', 'leave without pay', 'immediate effect' 

These are phrases that native speakers use and you should remember that when you learn new words that you also need to learn the words that they are normally used with too. This will make you use the words more naturally.

Demonstrating effective use of collocations like this helps increase the lexical resource band score as detailed in the IELTS band descriptors here.

Estimated band score: 9

MODEL ANSWER BELOW

Dear Sirs,

I am hoping to bring a group to stay at your hotel in the near future and I am writing to request further information.

Firstly, we are planning to visit your resort from June the 15th until June the 20th. I do hope there are still vacancies at that time for a group of five. We would require a room with a balcony and access to a pool nearby.

The members of our group are all young adults, fit and healthy and love to explore the outdoors. Could you please recommend a few places that might be of interest to us? We would really appreciate it.

Finally, we are all vegetarians so could you also recommend any places we can get a quilt vegetarian menu. Preferably, family friendly places as well, as we will also be bringing two toddlers with us. They are not vegetarian and we will be feeding them with food that we bring with us.

Thank you for your time with this.

Yours sincerely,

In this answer, the writer starts the letter with 'Dear sirs' and ends it with 'your sincerely'. This is the correct way to start and finish a letter to someone you do not know the name of in a formal style. If you know their name then you end the letter with 'Yours faithfully'.

On the other hand if it is an informal letter then you can just write 'Hi/Hello/Hiya' and end with 'see you later'.

Demonstrating that you can start and finish your letter correctly helps increase the task achievement band score as detailed in the IELTS band descriptors here.

Estimated band score: 9