One of your friends recently had a birthday celebration, but you missed it and you forgot to tell your friend that you couldn’t attend. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter: - Apologise for missing the birthday celebration - Explain why you missed it and why you didn’t - tell your friend And say what you would like to do to show that are sorry.
Sample Response
Dear Liam Carter,
I'm truly sorry for missing your birthday celebration, and I want to apologize wholeheartedly for not being there to share that special moment with you.
The reason I was unable to attend your birthday celebration was due to an unforeseen work commitment that arose at the last minute. As you know, my job often demands long hours and unexpected deadlines, and unfortunately, this particular event required my immediate attention. The project was critical and required my presence to ensure its successful completion. Regrettably, the demanding nature of my work prevented me from being able to attend your celebration as planned and notifying you in a timely manner.
To make up for my absence and demonstrate my remorse, I would like to propose a belated birthday celebration in your honor. I would be delighted to take you out for a memorable dinner at a restaurant of your choice. It would be my way of expressing my apologies and showing you how much your friendship means to me. We can have a heartfelt conversation, reminisce about past birthdays, and create new memories together. I genuinely hope that this gesture will convey my deep regret for missing your special day.
With deepest apologies and warmest regards,
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use friendly salutation Original: Dear Liam Carter Suggested revision: Dear Liam Why it matters: Using only the first name better matches a personal letter to a friend.
- 2. Use natural wording Original: wholeheartedly Suggested revision: sincerely Why it matters: “Apologize sincerely” is a more natural collocation in a personal apology.
- 3. Refer to the occasion Original: share that special moment Suggested revision: share your special day Why it matters: “Your special day” refers more naturally to the whole birthday celebration.
- 4. Clarify the reference Original: event Suggested revision: project Why it matters: “Project” clearly identifies what required the writer's attention.
- 5. Reduce formal wording Original: required my presence to ensure its successful completion Suggested revision: needed me there to finish it successfully Why it matters: The revision expresses the same reason in a more natural tone for a friend.
- 6. Use personal language Original: demonstrate my remorse Suggested revision: show how sorry I am Why it matters: The direct wording sounds warmer and less formal in a letter to a friend.
- 7. Make invitation natural Original: propose a belated birthday celebration in your honor Suggested revision: suggest a belated birthday celebration for you Why it matters: This phrasing makes the proposed celebration sound less ceremonial and more personal.
- 8. Match informal register Original: a heartfelt conversation Suggested revision: a good chat Why it matters: “A good chat” is more idiomatic and appropriate between friends.
- 9. Sentence rewrite Original: Regrettably, the demanding nature of my work prevented me from being able to attend your celebration as planned and notifying you in a timely manner. Suggested revision: Unfortunately, the demands of my work prevented me from attending your celebration as planned or notifying you in time. Why it matters: The rewrite fixes the faulty coordination and removes unnecessary wording.
- 10. Explain the missed message Suggested revision: State directly why the last-minute work problem also prevented you from sending your friend a message before the celebration. Why it matters: The paragraph explains the absence well but gives only a vague account of why no advance notice was sent.
Suggested Rewrites
- Dear Liam Carter Dear Liam
- wholeheartedly sincerely
- share that special moment share your special day
- event project
- required my presence to ensure its successful completion needed me there to finish it successfully
- demonstrate my remorse show how sorry I am
Why this response received Band 7.5
The response’s strongest aspect is its thorough fulfilment of the apology, explanation, and proposed amends, supported by clear organisation and strong grammatical control. Its main limitation is an excessively formal, repetitive style for a letter to a friend, which makes expressions such as “demonstrate my remorse” sound distant. The highest-priority improvement is to replace formal business-like language with concise, natural wording that conveys genuine friendship.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
All required points are clearly addressed and developed, but the highly formal register is not consistently suitable for writing to a friend.
Use a warmer informal tone and shorten the explanation so the apology feels more personal and direct.
Coherence and Cohesion
The three-part progression is easy to follow, though repeated references to the celebration, work, and regret make the response somewhat overextended.
Remove repeated explanations and let each paragraph advance one distinct part of the message more concisely.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is broad and precise overall, but choices such as “demonstrate my remorse” and “convey my deep regret” are overly formal for the relationship.
Prefer natural friendly phrases such as “make it up to you” and reserve formal apology language for professional contexts.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response uses a wide range of complex structures with strong accuracy, despite one awkward parallel construction around attending and notifying.
Maintain parallel verb forms in coordinated phrases, for example by pairing “attending” with “letting you know.”
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
One of your friends recently had a birthday celebration, but you missed it and you forgot to tell your friend that you couldn’t attend. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter:
- Apologise for missing the birthday celebration
- Explain why you missed it and why you didn’t
- tell your friend And say what you would like to do to show that are sorry.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.