IELTS General Training Writing: a 150-word letter and a 250-word essay
Writing is 60 minutes for two tasks. Task 1 is a letter of at least 150 words, worth about one third of the Writing band and best kept to 20 minutes. Task 2 is an essay of at least 250 words, worth two thirds, with about 40 minutes. Both are marked on Task Achievement (Task 1) or Task Response (Task 2), Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource, and Grammatical Range and Accuracy.
Task 1: the letter
The prompt supplies a situation and three bullet points; every bullet must be covered and developed, not merely mentioned. Register follows the reader:
- Formal to someone unknown: Dear Sir/Madam ... Yours faithfully.
- Semi-formal to a named person you know professionally: Dear Mr Okafor ... Yours sincerely.
- Informal to a friend: Dear Sam ... Best wishes.
Open with a purpose statement ('I am writing to report an item left in Room 214'), not 'I am writing this letter to you'.
Task 2: the essay
Read the instruction precisely: discuss both views and give your own opinion, to what extent do you agree or disagree, what problems does this cause and what solutions exist. State a position in the introduction, keep it consistent to the conclusion, and support each main idea with one specific example. One idea developed over three sentences beats three undeveloped ideas.
Worked example
Prompt: you left an item in a hotel; write to the manager saying what you left, where you think you left it, and what you want done. Plan: paragraph 1 - formal greeting, dates, item; paragraph 2 - a grey charging cable, Room 214, beside the desk; paragraph 3 - request that it be posted to your address, with the cost charged to your card. Reasoning: bullet three fails if you only write 'please help' - a letter must make a concrete, actionable request.
Traps
Under-length scripts lose Task Achievement marks. Copying the prompt wording wastes words and earns nothing. Contractions in a formal letter, or slang in an essay, damage register. An essay with no discernible position cannot reach the upper bands for Task Response.