You invited a friend from India to visit London. The British High Commission has asked your friend for a formal letter showing that you are ready to host him/her. Write a letter to your friend that he/she can submit to the High Commission. In your letter: - state that you are ready to host your friend - state that you are financially able to host your friend
Sample Response
Dear Amrita, Hope you and your parents are doing great. I am writing to affirm that I would be highly delighted to host you as a guest at our house for one to three months. I reaffirm that you are invited to stay in our large 5-bedroom house and dine with us during your stay. I own this house which is located in central London and have two spare rooms. I have already made plans to visit the main attractions in London and cannot wait to see you. I will receive you at the airport and while you are in London, I will take care of the expenses. I work for a local fashion house as a senior manager and my yearly salary is more than 120 thousand Pounds. My husband is a doctor and he earns significantly higher than I do. So you do not need to worry about any expense at all. You are a family member to me, not just a friend, and I am looking forward to having some quality time with you here in London. I hereby enclose my last six months’ bank statement and last year’s tax papers as references, in case you need those to submit to the embassy. Do not take long to visit us. With loves and warm wishes, Anika
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Add sentence subject Original: Hope Suggested revision: I hope Why it matters: The sentence needs the subject “I” in this formal supporting letter.
- 2. Avoid over-intensifying Original: highly delighted Suggested revision: delighted Why it matters: “Delighted” already expresses a strong degree of pleasure.
- 3. Avoid repetition Original: I reaffirm Suggested revision: I confirm Why it matters: “Confirm” avoids repeating the preceding use of “affirm”.
- 4. Spell out number Original: 5-bedroom Suggested revision: five-bedroom Why it matters: Spelling out this small number suits the formal purpose of the letter.
- 5. Punctuate relative clause Original: this house which is located in central London Suggested revision: this house, which is located in central London, Why it matters: The non-defining relative clause needs commas around it.
- 6. Use natural collocation Original: receive you at the airport Suggested revision: meet you at the airport Why it matters: English uses “meet” for greeting someone when they arrive at an airport.
- 7. Clarify financial support Original: the expenses Suggested revision: all your expenses Why it matters: This specifies that the writer will cover the visitor’s costs.
- 8. Format amount correctly Original: 120 thousand Pounds Suggested revision: 120,000 pounds Why it matters: Use digits with a thousands separator and lowercase the currency name.
- 9. Compare earnings correctly Original: earns significantly higher than I do Suggested revision: earns significantly more than I do Why it matters: Use “more” to compare amounts of money earned.
- 10. Use formal connector Original: So Suggested revision: Therefore Why it matters: “Therefore” better suits the letter’s official supporting purpose.
- 11. Use natural expression Original: a family member to me Suggested revision: like family to me Why it matters: “Like family to me” is the natural expression for this relationship.
- 12. Correct collocation Original: having some quality time Suggested revision: spending quality time Why it matters: The standard collocation is “spend quality time”.
Suggested Rewrites
- Hope I hope
- highly delighted delighted
- I reaffirm I confirm
- 5-bedroom five-bedroom
- this house which is located in central London this house, which is located in central London,
- receive you at the airport meet you at the airport
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter convincingly confirms both accommodation and financial support, using concrete evidence such as employment, income, spare rooms, and enclosed documents. The main limitation is a mixed register: formal declarations suitable for the High Commission sit beside very personal expressions and an inaccurate closing. The highest-priority improvement is to maintain a consistently formal, submission-ready tone and organise the assurances into clear paragraphs.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Detailed feedback by IELTS writing criterion after the annotated essay.
Task Achievement
Both required assurances are fully developed with persuasive supporting details, though the register is not consistently appropriate for a letter intended for official submission.
Retain the personal addressee but remove overly casual lines and use a formal closing so the document is suitable for the High Commission.
Coherence and Cohesion
The content moves logically from the invitation to accommodation, financial capacity, supporting documents, and a closing, but it is presented as one block.
Divide the letter into paragraphs for hosting arrangements, financial evidence, enclosed documents, and the conclusion.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is varied and appropriately specific for accommodation and financial support, with only occasional awkward choices such as 'With loves.'
Use precise formal wording throughout and replace unnatural expressions with conventional phrases such as 'Yours sincerely.'
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response demonstrates a varied range of mostly accurate sentence structures, with a few minor omissions and usage errors.
Proofread for complete clauses and small form errors, for example adding 'I' before 'hope' and using 'With love' only in genuinely informal correspondence.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You invited a friend from India to visit London. The British High Commission has asked your friend for a formal letter showing that you are ready to host him/her. Write a letter to your friend that he/she can submit to the High Commission. In your letter:
- state that you are ready to host your friend
- state that you are financially able to host your friend
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.