You have just spent a week with a friend on holiday. When you got home, you realised you had left your wallet there. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter: - thank your friend for the holiday - explain that you left your wallet in their house - give them instructions on how to send it back to you
Sample Response
Dear Anthony, I would like to thank you again for your great hospitality while I was staying with youduring my stay at your place for the whole week of my holidayfor a whole week on my holiday trip to your town. I am writing becauseAnyway, I am getting back to you this time because it looks like I have left my wallet at your home, and I found out about thisI came to find about this only after returning homeafter returning to my home this afternoon. At first, I thought it was possibleOf course, it is also possible that I might have lost it on theour way when we went to buy some snacks and drinks. Then I rememberedBut, then I remembered clearly that you insisted that I leave my wallet behindyou didn’t allow me to carry my wallet with me yesterday evening since you were so eager to take care of the bills on your own. So, I guess that my wallet is still in one of the drawershiding in one of the drawers of the TV stand inside your living room. You don’t really need to worry about giving my wallet back to me since, luckily, one of my neighbours, Mr Harris, drives by your town every weekendone of my neighbours drives by your town every weekend in order to see his elderly parents, and all you need to do is to hand my wallet to himhand him over my wallet whenwhenever he visits you next weekend. Take care, and thanks again.Take care and stay fine. Warm wishes, Ron Bevan
Why this response received Band 7.5
The letter fully addresses the holiday, missing wallet, and return arrangement in a friendly, easy-to-follow manner, with varied vocabulary and mostly accurate grammar. Its main limitation is that the long single paragraph and unnecessary uncertainty delay the request, while the collection instructions lack a name and precise timing; the highest priority is to give direct, specific return instructions in short paragraphs and simplify awkward expressions.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The letter thanks the friend, explains that the wallet was probably left at the house, and gives a way to return it. The task is achieved, though the return instructions depend on a neighbour without giving his name or exact timing.
Give the neighbour’s name and a clear instruction about when he will collect the wallet.
Coherence and Cohesion
The sequence is clear, moving from thanks to the missing wallet and return plan. The response is one long paragraph, and the explanation includes extra uncertainty that slightly delays the main request.
Use three short paragraphs and make the wallet location and return instruction more direct.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is friendly and sufficiently varied, with natural phrases such as “great hospitality” and “elderly parents”. Some expressions are wordy or awkward, including “getting back to you this time” and “hand him over my wallet”.
Use simpler informal wording and correct collocations around sending or handing over the wallet.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Grammar is mostly accurate and meaning is clear. Minor errors involve word order, prepositions, and unnecessary modal uncertainty in long sentences.
Tighten long sentences and check verb-preposition patterns such as “find out” and “hand the wallet to him”.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You have just spent a week with a friend on holiday. When you got home, you realised you had left your wallet there. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter:
- thank your friend for the holiday
- explain that you left your wallet in their house
- give them instructions on how to send it back to you
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.