You have a pen pal and you are writing your first letter to that pen pal. In your letter: - describe your previous studies and/or work experience - describe your current activities, hobbies and interests - tell your pen pal that you will be visiting him/her
Sample Response
Dear Ahmed, I hope this letter finds you wellHope this letter finds you well. I am very excited to have this opportunity to write to you as a pen pal. I hope we willwould become good friends. In this first letterIn my first letter to you, I would like to tell you about my education, work, and hobbieseducation, job and hobbies. I graduated fromcompleted my graduation from the University of Edinvera in 2020 and I majored in data engineeringmy major was data engineering. Afterwards, I joined the multinational company - Siemens, as a data analyst. I continue to work therestill work there and I enjoy my jobreally enjoy my job. I like to travelexplore the world and meet new people to learnknow about their traditions and lifestyleslifestyle. So far, I have beenSo far I had been to more than 10 countries and I am planning to visitand planning to visit Italy this summer. I am health-conscioushealth conscious and regularly exercisetake part in physical activities. For this reason, I am an active member of the renowned fitness centre ‘Shape’. I hope we canhope we would be able to strengthenextend our friendship and become close friendsgood buddies. I would be glad to meet you in person sometime in the middle of next year when I will be visiting your country. Warm regards, Fahad Sultan
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter has a friendly, suitable tone and balances education, current employment, travel interests, fitness activities, and a reasonably specific plan to visit in the middle of next year. Its strongest feature is complete and relevant task coverage. The main limitation is language control, especially tense choice and several unnatural study and travel expressions. Prioritise accurate present-perfect forms and natural descriptions of qualifications, experience, and future plans.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
All bullet points are clearly addressed with relevant personal details and a definite intention to visit during the middle of next year.
Add the likely month or duration of the visit and suggest one activity to enjoy together.
Coherence and Cohesion
The letter progresses naturally from introduction to education, work, hobbies, and the future visit, maintaining an appropriate conversational flow.
Use short paragraphs for background, interests, and visit plans so each topic is easier for the pen pal to follow.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is sufficiently varied for an informal introduction, though phrases such as ‘completed my graduation’ and ‘know about their lifestyle’ are unnatural.
Use ‘graduated’, ‘majored in’, ‘learn about different cultures’, ‘travelled to’, and ‘fitness club’.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A range of structures is attempted, but recurring tense, auxiliary, article, and sentence-completion errors reduce accuracy.
Use ‘I have been to more than ten countries and am planning’ and choose ‘hope we will’ for future expectations.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You have a pen pal and you are writing your first letter to that pen pal. In your letter:
- describe your previous studies and/or work experience
- describe your current activities, hobbies and interests
- tell your pen pal that you will be visiting him/her
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.