You play a team sport with some friends. Last week a member of the team had an accident and was not able to play with you at the weekend. You decide to write to him/her in the hospital, telling him/her about the match. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter: - tell him/her which team won - say how you felt about the match - ask how he/she is doing
Sample Response
Dear Conor, I sincerely hopereally pray and hope that you're trying to remain positive and in good spiritshigh-spirited after your accident. Please also knowAnd, please also know that you've been in the thoughts and prayersyou've always been in the thoughts and prayers of our whole team since we heard about what happenedyour shocking accident. I think that this newsthis particular news is going to lift your spiritselate you and your spirit greatlyin a big way - our team beathas won against the “Brother’s Union” club in the recent match, which took placethe last match which took place a couple of days ago. Our whole team surely missed having you in the matchmissed you in the match, since you were one of our most experienced and valued players, but the win against tough opposition like the Brother’s Union Club felt especially satisfying to all our team membersfelt really sweet to all of our team members. PersonallyBesides, I felt that it was a comprehensive victorycomplete win for our team since we played well in every areaplayed properly in all departments, including passing the ballball passing and defending several corner kickssaving many corner kicks. So, how much longerhow long more do you need to stay at the hospital? We're still not sure about the extent of damage or injury to your left leg. So, have you got the final X-ray report of your fracture? Wishing to have you among us soon. Warm regards, Tim
Why this response received Band 6.5
The letter has a warm, supportive purpose and fully tells the absent player who won, how the writer felt, and asks several specific questions about recovery. Its main weakness is the dense single-paragraph format, compounded by repetitive emotional language and awkward phrases such as 'elate you and your spirit' and 'how long more'. Prioritise conventional informal-letter paragraphing and natural, concise expressions for encouragement, match reaction, and recovery questions.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
All three bullet points are fully covered with specific match details, a clear personal reaction, and caring questions about the friend's recovery.
Keep the supportive tone but reduce repeated references to prayers and the shock of the accident so the match update remains central.
Coherence and Cohesion
The content follows a sensible sequence from encouragement to match news and recovery questions, but the entire letter is presented as one dense paragraph.
Use separate paragraphs for the opening concern, the result and reaction, and the questions about recovery.
Lexical Resource
There is adequate vocabulary for emotion, sport, and injury, but several collocations are unnatural and some wording is repetitive.
Use natural phrases such as 'lift your spirits', 'beat', 'felt especially satisfying', and 'how much longer'.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A range of complex sentences communicates the message clearly, although punctuation, question forms, articles, and clause construction show noticeable lapses.
Proofread question structures and sentence boundaries, especially 'How much longer do you need to stay in hospital?' and the opening after the salutation.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You play a team sport with some friends. Last week a member of the team had an accident and was not able to play with you at the weekend. You decide to write to him/her in the hospital, telling him/her about the match. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter:
- tell him/her which team won
- say how you felt about the match
- ask how he/she is doing
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.