Letter to a friend requesting a holiday photograph

The task

You recently went on a trip with a friend and you both took some photographs.

Write a letter to your friend. In your letter:

→ask your friend to send you one of the photographs
→explain why you need that particular photograph
→and tell your friend what happened to your copy of it

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

Model answer

Band 8 sample letter

Band 8200 words. Names and details are invented; write your own.

Dear Sarah,

I hope you have settled back into your routine after our fantastic trip to the Lake District last week. I have been going through my own camera roll today and have been reminiscing about all the beautiful scenery we captured.

Could you please send over that group shot of us standing in front of the waterfall at Aira Force? It turned out to be such a perfect candid moment for both of us.

I am planning to frame that specific photo as a birthday present for my mum. She has always wanted to visit that part of the country, and I know she would absolutely love to see how much fun we had exploring the trails together.

Unfortunately, my own copy is a disaster. I must have accidentally deleted it while trying to clear some storage space on my phone yesterday morning. I was absolutely gutted when I realised it was missing from my gallery as it is definitely the highlight of my trip photos.

Let me know if you need me to send you any of the other shots I took during our hike. I hope to see you again soon for another adventure!

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 fully addresses all three bullet points with specific, plausible details and maintains a consistently natural, warm tone throughout. The most common Band 6 mistake is writing too briefly and failing to provide a logical reason for the request, often resulting in an underdeveloped letter that lacks a personal touch.

→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

reminiscing
thinking back fondly about happy past experiences
candid
a photograph taken without the subject posing
gutted
extremely disappointed or upset about a situation
gallery
the digital photo storage folder on phones
settled back
returned to a normal routine after travelling
highlight
the most interesting or memorable part of something

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?+

Keep practising

More request letters

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