IELTS General Writing Task 1: Letter Formats & Examples

Quick Overview

Key Takeaways

• Every letter in General Training IELTS writing task 1 has one of three tones and your relationship with the person you are writing to decides which one you use.
• Task 2 usually carries about the same weight as Task 1, sometimes a little more, so do not let one task eat into the time you have left for the other.
• Get the greeting wrong. Get the closing wrong and your score, for the IELTS writing task drops sometimes before the examiner has even read your grammar. 
• Looking at an IELTS writing task 1 sample answer for each of the three tones of the IELTS writing task is very helpful. Going through the scoring criteria alongside the sample answer makes your preparation faster.

Study From UAE's IELTS preparation course creates practice letters based on real UAE admission and visa situations. The practice letters are not standard exam examples.

Introduction

Has your practice letter ever come back marked down for tone? This happens even when you have checked every grammar rule twice.

The reason for this is usually the tone and the format, not just the grammar. When you are doing the IELTS writing task 1, which is part of the General Training module, you have to write at least 150 words. You also have to do all of this within a 20-minute window, which is the time given to write the letter. The IELTS writing task 1 is very specific about the time. The word count. Picking the wrong letter format costs you marks before the examiner even reaches your second paragraph.

This guide takes under ten minutes to read. The guide walks you through all three letter formats and gives you a worked example of each one. The guide also shows you how format and tone fit into the examiner's four scoring criteria. Let us begin.

Who Actually Needs IELTS General Training Writing Task 1?

General Training works for candidates applying for UAE work visas. General Training is also suitable for family visas, partner visas and study programmes that do not lead to a qualification. Most universities in the United Arab Emirates need students who want to go for undergraduate and postgraduate programmes to take the IELTS test, not the IELTS General Training test. The universities in the United Arab Emirates like the IELTS Academic test because the reading and writing tasks in the IELTS test are similar to what students would do in a university setting.

If your goal is to get a degree in the United Arab Emirates, it is an idea to find out which test the university requires first so you can take the IELTS Academic test if that is what they need.

Study From UAE's guide to IELTS Academic vs General Training explains the difference, and the dedicated comparison of IELTS for Students vs IELTS for Migration explains it from another angle. Once you know General Training is the right module for your situation, the letter formats below apply straight to your preparation.

What Is IELTS Writing Task 1 in General Training?

General Training IELTS writing task 1 asks you to respond to a situation by writing a letter. The prompt gives you three bullet points. Your letter needs to cover every one of the three bullet points in full sentences, not notes or fragments.

The task is very different from the Academic version. In the Academic version, you describe a graph, chart or process instead of writing to a person. Check the full comparison in Study From UAE's guide to IELTS Academic vs General Training, which covers this difference section by section.

• Common Task 1 situations include a complaint to a service provider, a request for information from a college or office, an apology to a neighbour or colleague and an invitation or explanation sent to a friend.
• Your response counts toward roughly a third of your total writing band. Examiners calculate the average for IELTS Writing Task 1 and Task 2 to determine this band score. Task 2 usually has about double the weight. This way of weighting is an estimate. The method is to add Task 1 and Task 2, multiply Task 2 by two and then divide the total by three. IELTS has not shared the rounding rule. So consider the formula as a guide, not an official way to calculate the score. 

This scoring rule catches a lot of candidates off guard. Read the full breakdown of how the IELTS exam is scored before you decide how many minutes to spend polishing your letter.

What Are the Three IELTS Writing Task Letter Formats?

General training letters come in three registers: formal, semi-formal and informal. When you write to a company or a government department or a landlord's office, you need to be very formal. This is because you do not know these people personally.

A letter to someone, like a manager or a professor or a colleague, is a little different. You know them. Not too well, so it is semi-formal.

When you write to a friend or a family member, you can be really casual and that is what an informal letter is. You write letters to friends or family members.

The official IELTS Insights page talks about something called 'IELTS semi-formal'. So what is IELTS semi-formal? It is a way of writing when you want to speak to someone you know in a way. For example, you can use the IELTS semi-formal when you are writing to a friend. You are also talking about something related to work or school.

You should use the IELTS semi-formal when you are writing to people you work with, like your boss or the people you work with every day. This is because even though you know them, you still have a work relationship with them and IELTS semi-formal is a way to write to them. It is a category to use when you want to be polite and respectful but also a little bit casual.

Think about how differently you already write in daily life. A message to your bank manager reads nothing like a chat with your college roommate. When you write an email to the admissions office of a university in the UAE, it is very different from sending a text message to your friend who lives at home. 

What Is the Formal Letter Format for IELTS Writing Task 1?

A formal IELTS Writing Task 1 letter follows a set format, and it rarely changes. It is concerned only with your ability to cover all the necessary information completely. So you have to include all the information given in your writing task one. 

• Sir or Madam if you are not sure who you are writing to, you start with that.
• The first paragraph is where you explain why you are writing the letter.
• The body is where you talk about the topics you want to discuss. You list three points and add more details about each of those points.
• The final paragraph is where you tell the person what you want them to do next. This is usually in that paragraph.
• Sign-off is when you finish your letter. You write "Yours". Then your full name.

Take, for example, I live in university accommodation in Dubai. I asked someone to fix something two weeks ago, but so far the maintenance people have not done it.

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing to tell you about the maintenance problem I am having in my student accommodation block. The maintenance in my student accommodation block is not good.

This is a problem for my two flatmates and me. We need water and we do not have it. So we sent two emails to the facilities desk about the water heater in my student accommodation block. Nobody from the facilities desk got back to us about the water heater.

The accommodation handbook says that problems like the water heater should be fixed within 48 hours. It has been three weeks and the water heater in my student accommodation block is still not working.

I need someone to come to my student accommodation block and fix the water heater this week and I also need to know the time of the visit to the student accommodation block as soon as possible so I can tell my flatmates when someone is coming to fix the water heater so that my flatmates know what is happening with the water heater situation.

Yours faithfully,

A. Sharma

What Is the Semi-Formal Letter Format for IELTS Writing Task 1?

A semi-formal letter is like a ground. The words we use are polite and not too formal or informal. We have to use the level of formality from start to end. If we want a score like Band 7 and above, we have to keep the tone the same all through the letter. We should not use language in the middle of the letter that's too casual. 

• When we start the letter, we use a salutation like 'Dear Mr Khan' or 'Dear Ms Patel'. We always use the surname. 
• When we finish the letter, we use a sign-off like "Yours sincerely". Only if we know the name of the person we are writing to. 

For Example: Let us say we are writing to our course coordinator to ask for time to submit a document. 

Dear Ms Fernandes,

I am writing to ask if I can have a little time to submit my enrolment file. The problem is that my local visa office is running slow and my transcripts will not be ready on time. They will be four days late.

I already have all the documents. I can send those to you this week if that helps. I would really like it if you could think about what I'm asking for.

I request four days to send in my enrolment file. Suggest if there is something else that would be better for the admissions office.

Yours sincerely,

R. Iyer

What Is the Informal Letter Format for IELTS Writing Task 1?

Informal letters allow contractions, everyday words and a warmer opening. This is the one format where a relaxed tone actually earns marks. The letter still needs to cover every bullet point from the prompt, even in a relaxed tone.

Salutation: Dear Riya, using the first name.

Tone: friendly and conversational; contractions are welcome here.

Sign-off: Best wishes, Take care, or Speak soon.

For Example: you write to a friend about moving into shared student housing in Sharjah.

Dear Riya,

I really hope you are getting settled in okay. I just moved into my place in Sharjah and I wanted to tell you everything about it.

The building is really close to campus, so I usually walk to class in the morning. I do not have to take the bus. My flatmate is from Kerala. We started cooking together on weekends. This has made moving to the flat feel a lot better. I was feeling lonely. Now it is okay.

You should come visit my flat in Sharjah once you are done with your exams. My new flat in Sharjah has a nice rooftop area and I want to show you around my neighbourhood in Sharjah.

Take care.

Aisha

Which Phrases Work for Each Letter Purpose?

Tone decides your register. Purpose decides your opening and closing lines. Use this table to build a letter around whatever purpose the prompt describes.

Which Salutation and Sign-off Match Each Tone?

A single mismatched line undoes an otherwise strong letter. Keep this table nearby while you practise.

How Do Examiners Score Your IELTS Writing Task Letter?

Every Writing Task 1 letter gets graded against four equally weighted criteria. These four criteria come from the public band descriptors published jointly by IELTS, the British Council and IDP.

• Task Achievement: Whether you clearly explain the purpose, cover all three bullet points, develop them well and use a format and tone.
• Coherence and Cohesion: whether your paragraphs follow an order and link smoothly.
• Lexical Resource: the range and accuracy of your vocabulary for the chosen tone.
• Grammatical Accuracy: sentence variety and error control.

The wrong format or tone mostly affects task achievement. The wrong vocabulary or word choices sometimes affect Lexical Resource too. Study from the UAE guide on how the IELTS exam is scored explains the complete four-criteria breakdown, including how Task 1 and Task 2 come together to form your final writing band.

For the published wording, visit the official IELTS General Training writing format page and the British Council's official Writing Task 1 band descriptors. Both pages get updated directly by the test partners.

What Mistakes Do Candidates Commonly Make in IELTS Writing Task 1?

• Mixing tones within one letter, such as opening formally and closing with a casual sign-off.
• Adding an address block at the top of the page. The test never asks for one.
• Skipping or rushing the third bullet point from the prompt, even when the first two bullet points are well developed.
• Relying on a memorised template. Examiners spot memorised templates instantly, and this weakens your Lexical Resource score.
• Writing fewer than 150 words. Fewer than 150 words risks a Task Achievement penalty.

Candidates sometimes carry their everyday way of writing into IELTS letters. This happens without adjusting the register to suit the recipient and situation. Make sure the opening, the body language and the sign-off all keep the same level of formality.

Does This Letter-Writing Skill Help You Beyond the Exam?

The tone-matching skill behind Writing Task 1 does not stop at the exam hall. UAE work visas, family sponsorship applications and General Training routes all expect the same register discipline. This register discipline applies to cover letters, No Objection Certificates and sponsor correspondence. If your goal is a UAE university degree instead, Study From UAE's guide to IELTS Academic vs General Training explains why Academic, not General Training, is the version your application needs.

Study From UAE helps students with IELTS preparation and guidance. This guidance covers both the university journey and the visa journey. The platform's IELTS preparation course includes practice prompts based on UAE-relevant scenarios, such as writing to a housing office or a course coordinator, instead of generic exam topics. If you are preparing for General Training around a full-time job, the IELTS General Training study schedule for working professionals lays out a week-by-week routine built for exactly that situation.

Quick Revision Checklist Before You Submit

• Work out the tone from the prompt before you write a single word.
• Cover all three bullet points in separate, developed paragraphs.
• Match your salutation and sign-off to the chosen tone.
• Keep formal and semi-formal letters free of casual contractions.
• Count your words. Stay above the 150-word minimum while leaving enough time for Task 2.
• Skip the address block. Neither version of the test asks for one.

Ready to put this into practice? Book a free consultation with Study From UAE to plan your test date. Or check out the IELTS Preparation Course for guided letter practice.

Conclusion

Using the right format and a consistent tone is an important part of IELTS Writing Task 1. Task coverage, coherence, vocabulary and grammar matter too. Learn the three letter formats. Memorise the correct salutation and sign-off pairs, and practise one full letter of each type before your test date.

Check the official format page once. Work through a sample of each tone, and time yourself at 20 minutes per attempt. This combination closes the gap between your practice score and your target band faster than a single grammar drill on its own.