Letter to a friend thanking them for hospitality

The task

You went to another city for a training course and stayed at a friend's house for a week. They have been great hosts.

Write a letter to your friend. In your letter:

→thank them for having you at their house for a week
→express your gratitude for their hospitality
→say how much you miss them

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

Model answer

Band 8 sample letter

Band 8185 words. Names and details are invented; write your own.

Dear Sarah,

I hope you have managed to catch up on some rest after the chaos of last week. It feels incredibly strange waking up in my own flat today rather than in your lovely guest room.

Thank you so much for letting me crash at your place during my marketing course. Having a comfortable base so close to the city centre made an exhausting week of lectures infinitely more bearable. I truly appreciate you opening your home to me and dealing with my early morning starts and late-night study sessions without a single complaint.

I also wanted to express my deepest gratitude for your hospitality. From the delicious home-cooked dinners to the insightful chats we shared over coffee, you really went above and beyond to make me feel welcome. It was such a treat to spend quality time together after so many months apart.

I honestly miss our evening catch-ups already; the house feels far too quiet without your company. Please let me know when you are next planning a trip down south, as I would love to return the favour.

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

This letter achieves Band 8 by addressing all bullet points with a natural, consistent informal tone and specific, relevant details. A common Band 6 mistake is including irrelevant information, such as describing the training course in too much detail, which shifts the focus away from the purpose of expressing gratitude.

→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

crash at your place
stay temporarily in someone else's home
infinitely more bearable
much easier to endure or tolerate
above and beyond
doing more than what is strictly required
quality time
time spent giving someone your full attention
return the favour
do something helpful for someone who helped you
catch-ups
informal meetings to talk about recent news

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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