You have arranged to visit a friend in England but an important event at home now means that you must change the dates of the visit. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter explain the important event apologise for the situation suggest a new arrangement
Sample Response
Dear Albert, Hope you are doing fine. I have been eagerly waiting to meet you in a few days and spend some pleasant time in England. However, my younger sister gave birth to a baby boy two days ago and would be staying at our home for around 3 weeks. I am afraid I will have to reschedule my visit to England in early June instead of early May. I have almost finished my preparation to travel to England and applied for the visa. If things go as expected, I will get the visa in a week. Despite my anticipation to meet you on 3rd May, my current situation forces me to delay the tour for a month. My sister has had her first baby and she is staying with us. We are so happy to have a new angel in our family and my presence is quite important for the baby and the mother. I am the only male member of the family and cannot desert my family while I travel to England. I am so sorry that I cannot visit you as initially planned and it must be hard for you to reschedule everything. I wish I have had an alternative! Wishing to meet you on 4th June if everything goes smoothly. Take care and have an excellent time ahead. Warm wishes, Jonathon
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Informal subject I hope you are doing fine.
- 2. Tense choice will be staying
- 3. Natural plural my preparations
- 4. Avoid repetition As this is her first baby
- 5. Tone choice a new baby
- 6. Over-strong verb leave my family unsupported
- 7. Wish structure I wish I had an alternative
- 8. Incomplete clause I hope to meet you
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Detailed feedback by IELTS writing criterion after the annotated essay.
Task Achievement
The letter clearly explains the important event, apologises, and suggests a new date. The informal tone is suitable for a friend, though some explanation is repeated.
Keep the apology and new arrangement, but reduce repeated details about your sister and family duty.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response is easy to follow, but one-paragraph formatting and repeated information weaken progression. The new arrangement appears near both the start and end.
Use three paragraphs: reason for postponing, apology, and new arrangement.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is flexible and mostly natural, with some awkward or overly dramatic choices such as desert my family and new angel.
Use friendly, idiomatic phrases that fit a personal letter without sounding melodramatic.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Most grammar is clear, but there are errors in tense, modality, and clause construction.
Revise conditional and wish structures, especially I wish I had and I hope to meet.