Understanding IELTS letter questions
IELTS letter questions have their own marking scheme and there are 3 main points you must include in your answer for task response:
content
purpose
tone
This lesson explains how to identify these
Informal letter questions
A holiday competition – invitation letter
You won a competition and received a vacation for two as a prize. Write a letter to ask them to go on holiday with you. In the letter, you should:
tell him/her about the competition you won,
state what kind of vacation it is,
explain why you would like him/her to go on holiday with you
Sample letter and lesson with advice on 6 different ways to make your letters more informal
Cancelling an arrangement – apology letter
You arranged to visit a friend in England but an important event at home now means that you must change the dates of the visit. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter
Explain the important event
Apologise for the situation
Suggest a new arrangement
Sample letter with advice for band score 8.0 candidates on how to improve their score
Cancelling a visit to a friend – apology letterA friend who lives in another country has invited to you come and stay with him/her on your next holiday. You are too busy to accept the invitation.Write a letter to your friend. In your letter
Thank him/her for the invitation
Explain why you cannot come
Give him/her your other news
Sample letter with extended lesson on how to make a letter informal
Describing a national dish – advice letter
Your friend is an expert in international food and is going to publish a book soon.Write a letter to him describing a special dish from your country. In your letter you should
describe a special dish from your country
explain what season people prefer to eat it in
say why your friend should include this dish in his book
sample letter with helpful topic vocabulary and letter writing phrases
More formal letters
Employee of the year
Every year, someone in the company where you work is chosen as best employee. Your manager has asked staff members to make suggestions about who should be chosen this year.
Write a letter to your manager. In it you should
Identify a colleague who you think should be best employee
Explain what the job of this colleague involve.
Give reasons why the colleague should be chosen as best employee.
Lesson with ideas on how to make your letter more formal
A new airport – letter to newspaper
A new airport is going to be constructed near your town and you are unhappy about this.
Write a letter to your local newspaper and say
how you heard about the airport
how it is going to be a problem
what should be done
Model IELTS letter with both a more formal and a less formal version
Changing your course – request letter
You are not happy with the course you are doing at college and would like to change to a different course. Write a letter to the college director requesting to change your course. You should include details about:
what course are you doing now
why you are not satisfied with that course
what course would you like to change to
Rented accommodation – apology letter
You are staying in rented accommodation. You recently held a party to celebrate your birthday. Several neighbours have complained about the noise to your landlord. Write a letter to your landlord. In your letter:
apologise for the disturbance
explain the situation
say how you will remedy the situation
sample letter with lesson explaining how to write it
A faulty mobile phone – complaint letter
You have just bought a new mobile phone from a website on the internet. When it was delivered, the phone was faulty. Write a letter to the website. In the letter:
introduce yourself
explain the situation
state what action you want to be taken
Lesson with sample letter to download
Part-time employment – application letter
You are looking for part-time employment. Write a letter to an employment agency. In your letter
introduce yourself
explain what type of work you are looking for
say what experience and skills you have
It is great to have samples of every type of the Writing module letter. Quite simple and useful.
Thank you very much!