You arranged to visit a friend in Australia, 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 Response
Dear Alistar,
I hope all is well with you.Hope all is well with you. First of all, I'd like to apologize to you because I won't be able to visit yousince I won’t be able to visit you in Australia next week because of some important event. I know that this news would probably frustrate youprobably would frustrate you just as much as it did me, but if I briefly explain the situationif I explain the situation to you in brief, you'll probably understand why I'll need to change the plan.
The reason I'm changingThe reason, for which, I'm changing the schedule of this visit is that I'll have to attend the high school graduation ceremony of my only cousin on my father's sidemy only cousin (paternal), with whom I'm very close. He'd informed me about his upcoming graduation ceremony, which will also take place next week, well in advance, but it just slipped my mindwell in advance. But it just slipped my mind somehow. Now, seeing me skipskipping one of the most important events of my cousin’s life like this would certainly make him feel sad and I would hate to disappoint himwhich I just wouldn’t like to see.
I hope you understand the situationNow that I just explained the situation to you, you probably wouldn’t mind if I plan to visit you during the first week of next monthearly next month and start making the new arrangementsstart making arrangements for this.
Warm wishes,
Alex
Why this response received Band 7.5
The letter successfully covers the changed travel plan, explains the graduation ceremony, and maintains a warm, friendly purpose throughout. Its main weakness is that the explanation becomes over-formal and wordy while the proposed alternative remains vague; give one concrete replacement date or practical travel detail, then express the apology and reason in simpler, more direct language.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The letter clearly explains the graduation ceremony, apologises, and proposes visiting early next month. The purpose is achieved, but the new arrangement could be more specific about dates and practical changes.
Add one concrete replacement date or travel plan and keep the explanation shorter so the friend can immediately see the revised arrangement.
Coherence and Cohesion
The paragraphs follow a logical apology-explanation-suggestion sequence, but some transitions are wordy and the final paragraph repeats that the situation has been explained.
Use more direct linking: apologise, give the reason, then move straight to the new dates and any practical offer.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is flexible and friendly, with natural phrases such as 'Warm wishes', but several choices are over-formal or slightly unnatural for a letter to a friend.
Prefer simple personal wording, such as 'I am really sorry', 'I forgot', and 'I hope next month still works for you'.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The grammar is mostly controlled, but comma placement, conditional wording, and tense choices occasionally sound awkward.
Remove unnecessary commas and check modal verbs in polite explanations, especially 'would' and 'will'.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You arranged to visit a friend in Australia, 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
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.