You have invited a friend to come to your house next holiday. He/she has asked you how to get to your house from the airport. However, you are going to the airport to receive him/her. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter: - explain that you will meet him/her at the airport - say what you have planned for your friend - write some important things that he/she might find useful
Sample Response
Dear Alison, I am quite excited about your visit to my house during the summer holidaysduring the coming summer holidays. If there is no change in your flight schedule, I understand that you will comeI take it that you will come to visit me on 18th August. I also understand that you want directions to my housethe direction to my house from the airport. But, I think that it would be better if I come to the airport toand pick you up instead. Here is what I have plannedJust to let you know a little about my plans, I will take you to a nice restaurant for dinner after your arrival, where we can enjoyfor dinner, after your arrival, where we will enjoy Italian food. The next morning, we will set off forhit the road to travel to the most popular beachthe most popular sea beach in my country which you have always wanted to seevisit. We will also visit a theatre to enjoy a movie, go to the museum and try some local food. One important thing: please don’t forgetAlso, please don’t forget to bring some light summer clothessome clothes suitable for the summer season since summers in my country are really hot, unlike the summer weatherreally hot unlike the summer weather in your country. Also, bring any prescriptions you might need if you plan to buy medicine herebring your prescription if you want to buy any medicine from here. Take care. I can't wait to see you.Take care. Can't wait to meet you. Warm wishes, Adam Spencer
Why this response received Band 8.0
The letter warmly and fully addresses the airport pickup, planned activities, and practical advice, with a clear sequence and suitably informal vocabulary. Its main limitation is that all ideas are compressed into one paragraph and linked repeatedly with “Also”, while a few collocations, articles, and plurals are inaccurate. The highest-priority improvement is to separate the arrival plan, itinerary, and useful information into distinct paragraphs, vary the transitions, and polish travel-related phrasing.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The letter fully covers the airport pickup, planned activities, and useful advice about clothes and prescriptions. The tone is warm and appropriate for a friend, with relevant detail throughout.
Add one or two practical arrival details, such as where exactly you will wait at the airport or how to contact you if the flight changes.
Coherence and Cohesion
The ideas are easy to follow and the sequence from arrival to plans and practical advice is logical. The main limitation is that everything is compressed into one paragraph, with repeated “Also” links.
Use paragraph breaks and vary linking phrases so the plan and useful information stand out.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is flexible enough for an informal invitation letter, including “flight schedule”, “hit the road”, and “prescription”. A few collocations are inaccurate, such as “the direction” and “summer season”.
Keep the friendly idioms but choose more natural travel phrases such as “directions” and “summer clothes”.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Grammar is mostly accurate, with a range of simple and complex sentences. Minor problems include article choice, plural forms, and some long sentences that need punctuation.
Check plural nouns and article use, especially “directions”, “a theatre”, and “the summer weather”.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You have invited a friend to come to your house next holiday. He/she has asked you how to get to your house from the airport. However, you are going to the airport to receive him/her. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter:
- explain that you will meet him/her at the airport
- say what you have planned for your friend
- write some important things that he/she might find useful
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.