You have organised to go on holiday with your friend. However, you must change your plans. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter: - tell them how much you are looking forward to the holiday - explain why you must change your plans - suggest alternative arrangements
Sample Response
Dear Sarah, I hope this letter finds you wellfinds you in great spirits. I've been eagerly counting down the days until our upcoming holiday and it's hard to express how much I've been looking forward to it. The thought of sunny days, endless laughter, and exploring new places with you has kept me excitedexcited and motivated for weeks. Unfortunately, something unexpected has come uplife has thrown a bit of a curveball, and I need to change our plans. My work situation has become unexpectedly hectic, and I won't be able to take time off onduring the dates we originally planned for our holiday. I can't tell you how disappointed I am about this because I was so looking forward to our adventure. However, I'm determined not to let this setback deraildampen our plans entirely. How about reschedulingHow about we consider rescheduling our trip for a later date that works for both of us? I've already checked my work schedule for the next couple of months, and I'm more flexible inaround December. I understand if you're disappointed, and I am truly sorry for any inconvenience this may cause, but I'm hoping we can still make this holiday happen. Please let me know what you think and if these new dates work for you. I'm looking forward to seeing you soon. Warmest wishes, Jane
Why this response received Band 7.5
The response's strongest feature is its complete, engaging treatment of every bullet point, supported by a warm voice and a clear proposal to reschedule for December. The main limitation is that the entire message forms one long paragraph and some wording sounds slightly rehearsed or imprecise; prioritising purposeful paragraph breaks and more natural collocations would make the letter easier and more convincing to read.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The letter enthusiastically describes anticipation, clearly explains the work conflict, and proposes December as an alternative while maintaining a friendly relationship with the recipient.
Strengthen the proposed arrangement by offering one or two specific December dates for Sarah to consider.
Coherence and Cohesion
The message follows a coherent sequence from excitement through the change of plans to apology and rescheduling, with clear referencing and transitions.
Divide the single body paragraph into separate units for anticipation, the reason for changing plans, and the alternative proposal.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is varied and expressive, with phrases such as counting down the days and thrown a curveball creating an engaging informal voice, though a few combinations are less natural.
Choose more precise collocations, such as derail our plans instead of dampen our plans and available in December instead of flexible around December.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response uses a broad range of complex structures, contractions, and question forms with consistently strong control and clear meaning.
Refine the longest coordinated sentence near the end by splitting it to give the apology and new proposal cleaner emphasis.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You have organised to go on holiday with your friend. However, you must change your plans. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter:
- tell them how much you are looking forward to the holiday
- explain why you must change your plans
- suggest alternative arrangements
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.