IELTS General Writing Task 1: plan and write your letter in 20 minutes

General Training Writing Task 1 is a letter. IELTS describes an everyday situation, tells you who to write to and gives you three bullet points to cover. You write at least 150 words, and IELTS advises spending no more than 20 minutes on it. Academic candidates describe a graph, table, chart or diagram instead. Not sure which module you need? See IELTS Academic vs General Training.

Three decisions come before your first word: who you are writing to (that sets the tone), why you are writing (that is your first paragraph), and what the bullets really ask for. That last one is where letters most easily lose marks, because one bullet can hide two or three requirements: see three bullet points, five requirements.

The official sample scripts show this in marking. In two sample letters, rated band 5.5 and band 6, the examiner noted that the letter format was incomplete because there was no closing such as Yours faithfully or Best wishes, and said this affected Task Achievement. In the band 5.5 letter, a missing first bullet and the missing closing together "limit the overall rating", even though the letter showed features of higher bands (sample scripts, pages 11 to 13).

Practical habits that meet the band 7 wording (not rules printed by IELTS):

• Make each bullet easy to find. One paragraph per bullet is the simplest way, with a first sentence that shows which bullet it answers.
• State your purpose in the first paragraph. A short friendly line can come first in an informal letter.
• Keep one tone from the greeting to the sign-off.
• Add a detail to every point: a date, a number, a result ("illustrated or extended").

The other three criteria are shared with Academic Task 1: Coherence and Cohesion (logical order, paragraphs, linking), Lexical Resource (range and accuracy of vocabulary) and Grammatical Range and Accuracy (variety and accuracy of sentences). The Writing band descriptors guide explains all four.

The lines blur: IELTS itself says a letter to a manager can be "semi-formal or formal". Either can work if the tone is "consistent and appropriate to the task". What costs marks is switching halfway, like a formal opening followed by Anyway, fix it ASAP!

One request, three registers

The register changes how you ask, not what you ask. Here is one request, can we move it to another day?, written for a company, a manager and a friend:

The request gets shorter and more direct (I would be grateful if you could → Would it be possible → Could we), and contractions appear. IDP advises that formal letters "avoid contractions", while informal ones can use them; in a semi-formal letter a few are fine if the tone stays polite.

Full letters with phrases for each register: formal, semi-formal and informal, where the same message is written for three readers.

The 20-minute limit is IELTS's own advice, and it protects the essay, which counts twice as much. We can't show letter data yet: GoPrep added letter tasks in late September 2026. In Writing mocks, almost all Academic, short answers often came in pairs: in the first full Writing mocks of 3,417 learners (28 July to 26 September 2026, scored by the GoPrep AI examiner), Task 1 was under 150 words in 22%, and in 581 of those 747 mocks Task 2 was under 250 words too. That describes chart answers, not letters, and doesn't show why answers were short. Plan the whole hour with Writing time management.

The draft touches all three bullets, so it looks complete. But it misses three of the five requirements. That is close to the band 5 wording: all bullets presented, but one or more "may not be adequately covered". The corrected paragraphs:

I have really enjoyed the speaking classes, because our teacher, Ms Evans, made sure everyone had a chance to talk. After three months, I feel much more confident in meetings at work.

However, I have had two problems. The classroom was often too cold in the morning lessons, and the course books arrived three weeks late, so we worked from photocopies for most of the first month.

For future students, I would suggest switching the heating on before the first class and ordering the books a month before the course begins. It would also help to send the timetable out in advance.

Before you write, check every and, plural and number, and list the separate requirements in your planning notes. In the last 3 minutes, check each one against your letter.

Our plan.

• Register: semi-formal. You know Mr Park, but he is your manager, not your friend. Formal also works if it stays formal.
• Greeting and sign-off: Dear Mr Park, and Kind regards, (formal: Yours sincerely,) with your full name.
• Bullet 1, the problem: noise near the kitchen since the coffee machine arrived in March.
• Bullet 2, the effect: client calls and contracts; two calls taken in the car park last week.
• Bullet 3, the fix: move the machine to an unused meeting room, or add sound panels.
• Closing line: offer to discuss it.

The model letter (179 words)

Written by the GoPrep team as a practice example. It is not an officially marked script, so we don't give it a band.

Dear Mr Park,

I am writing in response to your request for ideas to improve the office. I would like to suggest one change that I believe would help the whole team.

The main problem is noise in the open-plan area next to the kitchen. Since the new coffee machine was installed there in March, colleagues often gather around it to chat, and the sound carries to the nearby desks, including mine.

This makes it difficult for me to concentrate, especially when I am on the phone with clients or checking contracts, where a small mistake can be costly. Last week I had to take two client calls in the car park because I could not hear properly at my desk.

My suggestion is to move the coffee machine into the small meeting room at the end of the corridor, which is rarely used. Alternatively, a few sound-absorbing panels around the kitchen would reduce the noise at a low cost.

I would be happy to discuss this in more detail if that would be useful.

Kind regards, Dana Serikova

Why it works: the purpose comes first; each bullet has its own paragraph that opens by naming it (The main problem, This makes it difficult, My suggestion); every point has a detail; and the tone stays polite and direct throughout.

One paragraph, two versions

Bullet 2 written two ways. The comparison is about Task Achievement only; a single paragraph can't be given a band.

Vague effect and abrupt tone

This noise is a big problem for me. I cannot concentrate on my work and it is not good when I talk to clients. Honestly, it drives me crazy, so please do something about it.

Specific consequence and consistent tone

This makes it difficult for me to concentrate, especially when I am on the phone with clients or checking contracts, where a small mistake can be costly. Last week I had to take two client calls in the car park because I could not hear properly at my desk.

The first names an effect but gives no specific example, and drives me crazy breaks the polite tone: the kind of "minor inconsistencies in tone" the band 6 descriptor mentions. The second gives a real consequence in one tone.

One progress figure from GoPrep Writing mocks. They were almost all Academic, so this is not a letter result: