One of your friends recently had a birthday celebration, but you missed it and you forgot to tell your friend that you couldn't attend. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter: - apologise for missing the birthday celebration - explain why you missed it and why you didn't - tell your friend and say what you would like to do to show that you are sorry Dear..................,
Sample Response
Dear Benjamin, I hope you are enjoyingDear Benjamin, Hope you are enjoying your life and your newly-found career. Before anything elseBut, before anything else, please allow me to apologise firstapologize to you first since I couldn’t attend your birthday celebrationI couldn’t attend your birthday. I also feel terribleEven more frustrating for me is the fact that I couldn’t write to you early enough to tell you why I couldn’t attend your birthday. Anyway, the reason I couldn’t attendthe reason, for which, I couldn’t attend your birthday is that I fell sick with nausea and stomach pain (probably because of some kind of food poisoning) just before the night of your birthday. Then, as soon as I felt a little betterI felt little better two days later, I had to travel to another city because one of my overseas managersone of my foreign bosses arrived in our country, and I needed to accompany him for the next couple of days. As you can imagineSo, you can guess how hectic the last few days have really been for me, so much so that I even forgot to write to you earlier and say that I am sorry. Anyway, I really hope you can forgive melet bygones be bygones, and please allow me to say "Happy Birthday" once again. I would also like to take you to the most upscale restaurant in townthe most upscale restaurant in the town and buy you your favourite dishthe most expensive and best dish that you have eaten. See you soon. Warm wishes, Bevan
Why this response received Band 7.5
This is a strong, fully developed informal letter: it apologises, explains the absence and delayed message, and offers a clear way to make amends. The friendly purpose is achieved, but the single-block structure and phrases such as ‘let bygones be bygones’ make parts of the apology feel less warm. Shorter paragraphs, more natural transitions, and a direct acknowledgement of the friend’s feelings would make it more polished.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The letter clearly apologises, explains both the illness and the later work obligation, and offers a concrete way to make amends. The friendly purpose is achieved, though the reason for not informing the friend is slightly over-explained and the phrase “let bygones be bygones” weakens the apology.
Keep the full task coverage but make the apology warmer and more direct, especially when explaining why you did not contact Benjamin earlier.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response has a clear progression from greeting to apology, explanation, and proposed meal. However, it is written as one long paragraph, and repeated linkers such as “Anyway” reduce cohesion.
Divide the letter into short paragraphs and replace repeated transitions with more natural links between apology, explanation, and make-up plan.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is flexible and mostly natural, with precise phrases such as “newly-found career” and “food poisoning”. Some choices sound exaggerated or awkward for a close friend, including “most upscale” and “let bygones be bygones”.
Use warm, conversational vocabulary and avoid phrases that sound dismissive, overly formal, or unnecessarily dramatic.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
There is a good range of complex sentences and meaning is consistently clear. Accuracy is generally strong, but articles, comma placement, and a few clause structures need tightening.
Proofread article use and long sentences, especially around “felt little better”, “the town”, and the relative clause after “the reason”.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
One of your friends recently had a birthday celebration, but you missed it and you forgot to tell your friend that you couldn't attend. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter:
- apologise for missing the birthday celebration
- explain why you missed it and why you didn't
- tell your friend and say what you would like to do to show that you are sorry Dear..................,
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.