Your parents will celebrate their 40th anniversary next month. You are planning a big celebration and want help making it memorable. Write to a friend who is a professional event planner. In your letter: - explain why the occasion is special - ask for your friend's assistance - set up a convenient time to meet and discuss your plans
Sample Response
Dear Amelia, I hope you are doing wellHope you are doing fine. It was so delightful to hear that you had a memorable tour in Europe, and I'm sure that would revive you to the fullest. I'm writing to seek your advice regarding my plan to celebrate my parents' 40thmy parents 40th weddingmarriage anniversary. I'm sure you can help me make this a grand celebration. Spending 40 years together is a great reason to celebrate and my parents have shown a true testament of what a marriage really is and I am absolutely blessed to be a part of this remarkable family. Four decades filled with blessings4 decades with blessing, love, affection, true commitment and care is absolutely remarkable. I only hope I will beI only wish I would be that fortunate! As I want to make this event unforgettable, I need your help. The 40th anniversary, also known as the ruby anniversary, should be a joyous occasion sharedfilled with family and friends who’ve been a part of theiryour lives over the years. I know how well known you are for making events successfulfamous you are for making such an occasion a success and although I have some initial ideasdespite some superficial ideas, I am not sure how to planmake arrangements for such a monumental occasion, which will take place onoccasion which is on 24th March. I hope you can meet me someday to discuss and finalise the plansplanning. I can come over to your office to discuss the detailshave the conversation at your convenience. Please let me knowDo inform me when you can meet. I hope to see you soonHope to meet you soon. Warm wishes, Karina
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter’s strongest feature is its enthusiastic, well-developed explanation of why the anniversary matters and why the friend’s professional help is valued. Its main limitation is repetition about the significance of forty years, while the meeting arrangement remains vague. The highest-priority improvement is to make the planning request more practical by proposing a specific date and time and trimming material that does not advance the purpose.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The response addresses all three bullet points in an appropriate friendly register, but the proposed meeting is left entirely at the recipient’s convenience.
Offer one or two specific meeting times and briefly identify the planning areas in which assistance is needed.
Coherence and Cohesion
Ideas progress clearly from the occasion’s importance to the need for help and a meeting, although some opening material and repeated celebration details reduce focus.
Remove the unrelated reference to the European tour and combine repetitive points about the forty-year marriage.
Lexical Resource
The response displays a broad vocabulary suited to celebration and event planning, with occasional awkward collocations and imprecise choices.
Use more natural wording, such as 'refreshing' instead of 'revive you to the fullest' and 'a testament to their marriage' instead of 'a testament of'.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A variety of complex sentences is handled with generally good control, though possessives, conditionals, and some long clause combinations contain errors.
Correct forms such as 'my parents’ 40th wedding anniversary' and 'I only hope I will be that fortunate', and divide overloaded sentences.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
Your parents will celebrate their 40th anniversary next month. You are planning a big celebration and want help making it memorable. Write to a friend who is a professional event planner. In your letter:
- explain why the occasion is special
- ask for your friend's assistance
- set up a convenient time to meet and discuss your plans
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.