Letter to a friend rescheduling a Canadian visit

The task

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

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

Model answer

Band 8 sample letter

Band 8191 words. Names and details are invented; write your own.

Dear Sarah,

I am so sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I am afraid I need to postpone my upcoming trip to Vancouver. I was really looking forward to catching up, but something urgent has come up that requires my presence here.

My sister has just announced that she is getting married at the end of next month. As I am the maid of honour, I have a mountain of responsibilities to manage, including helping with the final venue arrangements and catering decisions. It is a massive family occasion, and I simply cannot be away during such a pivotal time.

Please accept my sincerest apologies for this change of plans. I know you have already taken time off work to host me, and I feel terrible about the inconvenience this causes you. I hope you can forgive me for the last-minute disruption.

Could we perhaps move my visit to late September instead? The weather should still be lovely, and I would love to see the city as the autumn leaves start to turn. Please let me know if those dates might work for your schedule.

Best wishes,

Emma

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.

Write a letter, get a band free →

Examiner's view

Why this scores well

This letter achieves Band 8 by maintaining a warm, consistent informal tone while addressing all bullet points with specific, natural justifications. A common Band 6 mistake is providing a vague reason for the change or failing to suggest a concrete alternative, which leaves the task incomplete.

→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

postpone
to arrange for something to happen at later time
pivotal
a situation that is of very great importance
inconvenience
trouble or difficulty caused to someone else
last-minute
happening at the latest possible time
disruption
a problem that stops something from continuing normally
mountain of responsibilities
a very large amount of tasks to do

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

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