A family member is coming to stay with you. He/she will be arriving by train in the morning, but you won’t be home until the evening. Write a letter to your relative. In your letter: - Explain arrangements you have made for them to have keys and get into the house. - Tell your relative how to get from the train station to your house? - Say when you will be home and suggest what you could do together that evening?
Sample Response
Dear John and Rajan, It has been a long time since we talked. However, yesterday, I received your letter, and I’m delighted to learnI’m elated to read that you’re coming to stay at my home for a week, butfor a week; but, unfortunately, I won’t be thereI’ll not be there to receive you.
You need not worryYou need not have worried about it as I’ve made all the arrangementsarranged all the things. I have given the spare keysI have given spare keys to Mr Brown, who lives next door to mewho has been living next door to me and when you arrive, you can collect the keys from himyou can take keys from him and open the door.
To be honest, it’s not difficulta Herculean task to reach my place. As it’s very convenient for you to hire a private cab from the bus station, if you have got a lot of luggage; otherwise public transport is the best option as it’ll save youyour money. My house is 3km away from the trainbus station, and you’ll reach it within 15 minutes.
I’ll be able to meet you in the late evening. HoweverAlbeit, I’ll not be late for dinner. I’ve arranged a special dinner for us. I’ve booked a tablebooked our place in a reputablereputed restaurant, and when I get homewhen I’ll be at home, we all will dine out after freshening upafter getting fresh. As I know, you have got a sweet tooth, so after dining out, we’ll go to iceIce cream parlour and relish our favourite ice cream.
Hoping to see you soon!
Best wishes,Yours Loving,
Why this response received Band 6.0
The letter has a clear, friendly purpose and gives workable key arrangements and appealing evening plans, with ideas organised in an easy-to-follow sequence. Its main weakness is that it refers to a bus station instead of the stated train station and offers transport options rather than clear directions. Prioritise accurate task details and practical route instructions, then simplify awkward expressions and sentence structures.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The purpose and all three bullet points are recognisable, but the journey advice uses the wrong station and lacks actual directions.
Give a clear route from the train station, including the relevant transport, stop, and final steps to the house.
Coherence and Cohesion
The letter progresses logically through arrival, transport, and evening plans, although several linking expressions are awkward or excessive.
Use simpler connections between complete sentences and avoid combining several contrasting linkers in one thought.
Lexical Resource
There is enough range to discuss arrangements and plans, but several choices sound unnatural, including references to a reputed restaurant and getting fresh.
Prefer natural everyday phrases appropriate to a family letter and check collocations rather than selecting overly elaborate vocabulary.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A mix of simple and complex structures conveys the message, but fragments and recurring clause, article, and tense errors reduce control.
Form complete sentences around linkers such as albeit and review future time clauses, articles, and punctuation in longer sentences.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
A family member is coming to stay with you. He/she will be arriving by train in the morning, but you won’t be home until the evening. Write a letter to your relative. In your letter:
- Explain arrangements you have made for them to have keys and get into the house.
- Tell your relative how to get from the train station to your house?
- Say when you will be home and suggest what you could do together that evening?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.