You invited a friend from India to visit London. The British High Commission has asked your friend for a formal letter showing that you are ready to host him/her. Write a letter to your friend that he/she can submit to the High Commission. In your letter: - state that you are ready to host your friend - state that you are financially able to host your friend
Sample Response
Dear Amrita, I hopeHope you and your parents are doing great. I am writing to affirm that I would be delightedhighly delighted to host you as a guest at our house for one to three months. I confirmreaffirm that you are invited to stay in our large five5-bedroom house and dine with us during your stay. I own this house, which is located in central London,this house which is located in central London and have two spare rooms. I have already made plans to visit the main attractions in London and cannot wait to see you. I will meetreceive you at the airport and while you are in London, I will take care of all your expensesthe expenses. I work for a local fashion house as a senior manager and my yearly salary is more than 120,000 pounds120 thousand Pounds. My husband is a doctor and he earns significantly morehigher than I do. ThereforeSo you do not need to worry about any expense at all. You are like family to mea family member to me, not just a friend, and I am looking forward to spending quality timehaving some quality time with you here in London. I hereby enclose my bank statements from the last six monthslast six months’ bank statement and last year’s tax papers as supporting documentsas references, in case you need themthose to submit to the High Commissionthe embassy. Do not take long to visit us. With loveloves and warm wishes, Anika
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter convincingly confirms both accommodation and financial support, using concrete evidence such as employment, income, spare rooms, and enclosed documents. The main limitation is a mixed register: formal declarations suitable for the High Commission sit beside very personal expressions and an inaccurate closing. The highest-priority improvement is to maintain a consistently formal, submission-ready tone and organise the assurances into clear paragraphs.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
Both required assurances are fully developed with persuasive supporting details, though the register is not consistently appropriate for a letter intended for official submission.
Retain the personal addressee but remove overly casual lines and use a formal closing so the document is suitable for the High Commission.
Coherence and Cohesion
The content moves logically from the invitation to accommodation, financial capacity, supporting documents, and a closing, but it is presented as one block.
Divide the letter into paragraphs for hosting arrangements, financial evidence, enclosed documents, and the conclusion.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is varied and appropriately specific for accommodation and financial support, with only occasional awkward choices such as 'With loves.'
Use precise formal wording throughout and replace unnatural expressions with conventional phrases such as 'Yours sincerely.'
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response demonstrates a varied range of mostly accurate sentence structures, with a few minor omissions and usage errors.
Proofread for complete clauses and small form errors, for example adding 'I' before 'hope' and using 'With love' only in genuinely informal correspondence.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You invited a friend from India to visit London. The British High Commission has asked your friend for a formal letter showing that you are ready to host him/her. Write a letter to your friend that he/she can submit to the High Commission. In your letter:
- state that you are ready to host your friend
- state that you are financially able to host your friend
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.