A friend of yours has recently written to you asking for advice about a problem at work. You have had a similar problem at your workplace in the past. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter: - tell your friend how you feel about the problem - explain how you faced a similar situation in the past - suggest possible solutions to the problem
Sample Response
Dear Sam, Hope you're doing great. I've got your recent letter and learned about the problem, which you seem to be currently facing at your work. Of course, I feel concerned about what you are going througha bit frustrated about this issue of yours, but please understand that this kind of problem is not unusualnot very unique. In fact, I also had to deal with this type of problem a couple of years agoabout a couple of years ago when I was also asked to visit our manufacturing plant to train some junior staff members in a different city almost every other day, even though it was never a part of my job description. ButBut, I kept doing it as long as I could, but then went on to prove to my upper management how the quality of my regular tasks was being affected rather negatively as I was getting a bit too tired from the frequent traveltoo tired of the long travel to finish my regular tasks on time.
Luckily, the upper management understood my problem as I spoke to them very candidly. I suggest that youI suggest, you also talk to your superior about your problem with supporting evidencewith some facts, and I'm sure that they will listen. Wishing you all the best. Take care. Warm wishes, Gregory
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter maintains a warm, supportive tone and uses a relevant personal example to make the advice convincing. Its main limitation is that the proposed solution is narrow and some ideas are packed into an overly long sentence with awkward phrasing. Offering one or two additional practical options and dividing the experience into clearer stages would strengthen both the usefulness and readability of the response.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The response addresses all three bullet points in an appropriate informal tone, with the past experience developed particularly well.
Develop the advice further by suggesting another practical option if speaking to the superior does not resolve the problem.
Coherence and Cohesion
The message progresses clearly from sympathy to personal experience and advice, although one long sentence carries too many linked ideas.
Break the account of the past situation into shorter stages and give the recommendation its own paragraph.
Lexical Resource
A flexible range of work-related vocabulary conveys the situation and advice clearly, despite several awkward collocations.
Replace unnatural phrases such as at your work and talk with some facts with more idiomatic alternatives.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The letter shows varied complex structures with generally good control, while punctuation and clause management cause occasional lapses.
Edit long sentences to remove repeated conjunctions and correct unnecessary commas after introductory verbs.
Write this task while it is fresh
Try the same task now. It helps you remember the feedback and write better next time.
IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
A friend of yours has recently written to you asking for advice about a problem at work. You have had a similar problem at your workplace in the past. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter:
- tell your friend how you feel about the problem
- explain how you faced a similar situation in the past
- suggest possible solutions to the problem
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.