You recently went on a trip with a friend and you both took some photographs. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter: - ask your friend to send you one of the photographs - explain why you need that particular photograph and tell your friend - what happened to your copy of it
Sample Response
Dear Dean, How are you? I guess you have beengot busy with your new job and the volunteer work that keeps you very activevoluntary social works that you are very active in. I wish I wereI wish I have been more active like you! I would like to thank you for making our trip to Brazil so interesting. It was an amazing trip, and the lively experiencesOur trip to Brazil was amazing and the vibrant activities we had there are unforgettable. I still remember our day at Pelourinho, the historic centre of Salvador. I particularly relished the old town as it was filled with peaceful atmospheregraceful tranquillity, colourful pastel buildingscolourfully painted pastel buildings, and music in the streets. Can you recall how we screamed with joy when we sawthe time we saw a city we hadhave only seen in movies before? It was an astonishing experience. Do you have athe copy of the picture you took in which I was standing amidamind of a crowd as if I was a local resident? The picture showed a different side of meportrayed a different me in it and the lighting worked like magic. Unfortunately, I have foundI am unfortunate to find that I do not have a copy of this picture. I must have misplaced it or lost itplaced it somewhere or lost it. This photograph is special as it reminds me of a great trip we had together. I liked this photo the most as it captured me smilingcaptured a smiling myself in an unfamiliar town in an unusual settingin a mysterious town at a strange outset. I was so overwhelmed bywith the beauty of this town that I forgot to take pictures. I would be grateful if you couldcan send me that particular picture at your convenience. Take care and stay wellfine. Warm wishes, Sam
Why this response received Band 6.5
The letter has a warm, convincing personal voice and covers the requested photograph, its significance, and the loss of the writer's copy. Its main limitation is control: the request is delayed by excessive trip description, and recurring tense, pronoun, and collocation errors reduce precision. Prioritise bringing the request forward, trimming background detail, and proofreading key sentences for natural informal English.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
All three bullet points are addressed in an appropriately friendly tone, though excessive scene-setting delays the practical request.
Ask for the photograph earlier and retain only the background details that explain why that particular image matters.
Coherence and Cohesion
The message has a recognisable progression from shared memories to the photograph and request, but one long paragraph and repetition weaken focus.
Divide the letter into short paragraphs for greeting and context, the photograph's importance, and the request.
Lexical Resource
The vocabulary is varied and expressive, but errors such as social works, amind, and a smiling myself reduce naturalness and precision.
Replace strained expressions with idiomatic wording such as volunteer work, amid a crowd, and a photograph of me smiling.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A range of sentence structures communicates the message clearly, although tense consistency, pronoun choice, and verb forms are uneven.
Correct forms such as I wish I had been, a city we had only seen, and I would be grateful if you could send it.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You recently went on a trip with a friend and you both took some photographs. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter:
- ask your friend to send you one of the photographs
- explain why you need that particular photograph and tell your friend
- what happened to your copy of it
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.