General Training Writing Task 1 · informal · apology

Letter to a friend apologising for missing meeting: IELTS informal letter sample

An IELTS General Training Writing Task 1 informal letter with a Band 8 sample answer, why it scores well and the phrases worth borrowing for your own letter writing.
  • 187 words
  • Informal letters
  • Apology
  • 20 minutes
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The task

Last Month, You Travelled to Another City. You Told a Friend Who Lives in The City that You Would Meet Them, but You Did Not.

Write a Letter to This Friend. In your letter:

  • →apologise for Not Meeting Him/her
  • →explain Why You Did Not Contact Him/her Earlier
  • →suggest a Time and Place to Meet in The Future

Write at least 150 words. You do not need to write any addresses. Begin your letter: Dear ...,

Model answer

Band 8 sample letter

Band 8187 words. Names and details are invented; write your own.

Dear Sarah,

I hope you are doing well. I am writing to sincerely apologise for failing to meet up with you during my trip to Manchester last month, despite my earlier promise that we would catch up.

I feel terrible about the situation, especially since I know you had cleared your schedule for me. The truth is, my trip turned into a complete disaster when my laptop was stolen at the station on my first day. I spent the entire duration of my stay dealing with the local police and frantically trying to secure my accounts. I was so overwhelmed and stressed that it honestly slipped my mind to contact you until it was already far too late.

I really value our friendship and would love to make it up to you. I am planning to head back that way in mid-October for a work conference. Would you be free to grab dinner at that Italian place we used to frequent on the evening of the 15th? It would be wonderful to finally see you properly.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Best wishes,

James

Write your own and get a band

Answer this prompt in a timed General Training writing test and get a band for task achievement, coherence, vocabulary and grammar, with the sentences to fix.

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Examiner's view

Why this scores well

A Band 8 response clearly addresses all three bullet points with a consistent, natural tone that maintains the personal relationship. The most common Band 6 error is failing to provide a logical, specific explanation for the failure to contact the friend, often resulting in an underdeveloped response.

  • →Write to a friend or relative by first name and close with Best wishes, Love or See you soon.
  • →Contractions, phrasal verbs and a warm opening line are expected; a stiff formal tone loses marks here.
  • →Still cover every bullet in its own paragraph; friendly does not mean unstructured.

6 phrases

Useful phrases from the letter

  • cleared your schedule

    made yourself free by cancelling other planned commitments

  • disaster

    an event that causes great trouble or damage

  • frantically

    in a hurried, excited, or anxious manner

  • overwhelmed

    feeling buried or drowned by too much pressure

  • make it up to you

    do something good to compensate for past mistakes

  • frequent

    to visit a place often or regularly

Frequently asked questions

Is this letter formal or informal?+

Informal. Write to a friend or relative by first name and close with Best wishes, Love or See you soon.

How many words should an IELTS General Training letter be?+

At least 150 words, and 160 to 200 is the comfortable range. Spend about 20 minutes on it and leave 40 for Task 2, which carries twice the marks.

What does the examiner look for?+

A Band 8 response clearly addresses all three bullet points with a consistent, natural tone that maintains the personal relationship. The most common Band 6 error is failing to provide a logical, specific explanation for the failure to contact the friend, often resulting in an underdeveloped response.

Keep practising

More apology letters

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