You arranged to visit a friend in Canada 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 Ana, How are things with you? I'm afraid something has come up here which will probably affect my visit to Canada. Last week I was chosen to play tennis for my regional team in a national tournament. It was completely unexpected. I'm sorry, butI'm sorry but this probably means that I won't be able to visit you for the first week of January, as we planned. I must stay here and practise until the tournament begins later that monththe tournament begins, later that month. I wonder if it would be possible for me to visit youis possible for me to visit you later in the year. I can take some time off in early March and I can change my air ticket without any problemmy air ticket can be changed with no problem. Is March a possibility for you? Please write and let me know whether March works for youwhat your reaction is. I'm sure you realise that it's an honour to be selected to represent myyour region so I don't wantand so I don't want to miss this great opportunity. I hope you will understand. I'm looking forward to hearing from you. Best wishes,you, Best wishes, Fernanda
Why this response received Band 7.5
The letter fully covers the changed plans, the reason, the apology, and a practical alternative while maintaining a natural, friendly tone. Its main limitation is presentation as one continuous block, alongside a couple of slightly awkward choices such as asking for the friend's ‘reaction’ and referring to ‘your region.’ The highest-priority improvement is to separate the event, apology, and new arrangement into clear paragraphs.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The purpose is immediately clear, all three bullet points are fully addressed, and the friendly register suits the recipient.
Make the apology slightly more explicit before explaining the revised travel plan.
Coherence and Cohesion
The message progresses logically from the problem and its cause to the proposed March visit and request for confirmation.
Use distinct paragraphs for the event, the apology, and the replacement arrangement to make the structure easier to scan.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is varied and generally natural, with effective phrases such as ‘take some time off’ and ‘great opportunity.’
Replace slightly awkward wording such as ‘what your reaction is’ with the more natural ‘whether March would suit you.’
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A wide range of simple and complex structures is controlled accurately, and errors are rare and non-impeding.
Refine punctuation around closing phrases and avoid the unnecessary comma before ‘later that month.’
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You arranged to visit a friend in Canada 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
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.