Use the greeting, sign-off and paragraph plan below for this semi-formal letter, write it on a 20-minute timer, then compare it with a band-8 model letter.
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
You have changed the way a shared project will be done and your colleague does not know why.
Write a letter to your colleague, Ms Larsen. In your letter
Write at least 150 words.
You do NOT need to write any addresses.
Begin your letter as follows:
Dear Ms Larsen,
GoPrep wrote this practice question in the style of the exam. It is not an official IELTS question.
A letter to someone you know but not closely can end Kind regards or Best wishes as well as Yours sincerely, followed by your name.
Spend the first few minutes planning, then write.
0 words of 150 minimum
Your answer stays on this page only. Copy it before you leave.
Write your own answer first, then compare: how it answers the exact question, what each paragraph does, and which phrases you could borrow.
Dear Ms Larsen,
I hope you are well. I am writing to let you know about some changes that I have made to the way we will carry out the customer survey.
Instead of sending the questionnaire by post, as we agreed, we will now conduct it online and by telephone. I have also reduced the questions from forty to twenty-five, and only customers from the past year will receive it.
I made these changes for several reasons. Firstly, the postal option would have cost far too much in the budget we were given, and it would have taken two weeks longer. Secondly, our manager told me last Friday that the results are needed by the end of next month, not in December.
As for your work, the main difference is that you will no longer need to prepare the printed letters. Instead, I would be grateful if you could design the online form and update the customer list.
Please let me know what you think.
Kind regards,
Sofie Larsen
| Phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| I'd like to explain what happened. | open an explanation politely |
| The reason is that | introduce a cause |
| That's why | link a cause to a result |
| I realise this may have caused some confusion. | acknowledge a misunderstanding |
| Please don't hesitate to ask if you need more details. | invite questions |
Answer random Part 1, 2 and 3 questions on an exam timer.
Average your four skill bands, rounded the way IELTS rounds them.
Compare an IELTS band with TOEFL, Duolingo and PTE scores and CEFR levels.
Look up the IELTS score a university asks for, with the source.