IELTS Writing Task 1 General (Step By Step)
Except for some easily avoidable mistakes, the IELTS Writing Task 1 General test is very straightforward.
By the end of this lesson, you’ll know how to avoid these mistakes and ensure that you can get the highest possible score.
Contents;
- Overview of IELTS Writing Task 1 General
- Answering the Question
- How to Improve in IELTS Writing Task 1 General
- Practice Activity
Overview of IELTS Writing Task 1 General
If you’re unfamiliar with the IELTS General Writing test, you can see a good overview by IELTS.org here and check out this guide to studying at home.
However, to put it simply, you need to write a letter for Writing Task 1 IELTS General.
Let’s look at a sample question and sample answer to make sure you know what to expect.
Below is a question with the prompts coloured red, blue and green.
Under that, you will see a sample answer with the paragraphs coloured to show which prompt they are addressing.
Dear Mr Smith,
I regret to inform you that I am unable to continue working as a member of your team as I must return to my country to complete a master’s degree. I have been fortunate enough to be accepted into one of the top universities in my country, and this is an opportunity that I must pursue.
I have thoroughly enjoyed my time working in this position as it gave me a wonderful opportunity to learn so much about this industry. I hadn’t realised that there are so many factors to consider when organising transportation, and furthermore, I believe that all of the skills I have learned will benefit me in future endeavours.
My intention is to continue working here until the end of next week, after which I will be returning home. I would like to have given you a longer period of notice, but the master’s program is starting next month, and I must return to my country before that so as to organise my accommodation for when I am studying.
Yours sincerely,
Lar Ryan
And that’s pretty much all you need to do when answering an IELTS Writing Task 1 General question.
Just write one paragraph for each prompt.
The IELTS examiner will then grade your answer according to the requirements of the band descriptors document.
To fully understand these requirements, make sure to complete my Band Scores Explained lesson.
Answering the Question in IELTS Writing Task 1 General
Step 1 – Analyse the Question
The Situation
Every IELTS Writing General Task 1 question describes a situation, and you can see an example of this highlighted in the question below.
In the answer you write, the situation must be the exact same or else you’ll get a low Task Achievement score.
For example, if I answered the above question by writing about a phone, I would get a low score because the question says that you ‘purchased a toy‘.
The Recipient
The next part of the question tells you who to write to. Again, you can see this highlighted in the question below.
This part of the question is very important as well as it will determine which tone you need to use in your letter.
If you are writing a letter to a friend, you must use an informal tone.
If you are writing a letter to anyone else, you must use a formal tone.
Following these two conditions is by far the most straightforward approach.
If you’re not familiar with how to write in a formal and informal style, I have a complete lesson on this for you – Formal and Informal Tone
The Question Prompts
Finally, there are 3 instructions about what to include in your answer.
Step 2 – Write the Answer
Beginning the Letter
At the bottom of the question, it tells us how to begin the letter.
The one above says to write ‘Dear Sir or Madam,‘ which is how we begin a letter to somebody when we don’t know their name.
However, the question might also look like this;
When the question says ‘Dear ………,’ we must include the name of the person you are writing to.
If we are writing to a friend, we will just include their first name, for example, Dear Jane,
If we are writing to anyone else, we will include a title and surname, for example, Dear Mrs Smith,
Finally, make sure to put a comma at the end.
Write the First Paragraph
In the first paragraph, write about 60 words that respond to the first prompt.
What you need to do now is essentially creative writing.
The question has given the situation to you, and now you must create the characters, what happened to them and how they feel about the situation.
What is often difficult about this is writing a full paragraph about something that you could say in one sentence.
For example, this prompt requires me to describe the toy that I purchased, but it’s not enough to just say, “It’s a brown teddy bear.”
Instead, we need to develop that response into a full paragraph and must continue describing the toy until we have written about 60 words.
Also, every sentence in the paragraph must focus on what the prompt told us to write about.
Therefore, including other information like why we bought it or who we bought it for isn’t appropriate.
Sample Paragraph
Yesterday, the brown teddy bear which I ordered from your website was delivered to my house. The bear appears to be made from polyester, and it is wearing a purple dress and matching hat, which are fashioned from a heavy velvet material. As well as that, the bear’s paws are covered with red and white checkered cloth.
You’ll also notice that the language used is formal as this is not a letter to a friend.
Write the Second Paragraph
In the next paragraph, we will respond to the second prompt.
In every paragraph, you should directly address the prompt in the very first sentence.
For example, in this paragraph, we will say exactly what the problem is in the first sentence.
Doing this means that there is no need to plan your answer as you’ll be clear about what you’re discussing in the rest of the paragraph.
In the sample paragraph below, you will see how the prompt is addressed in the first sentence rather than later in the paragraph.
Sample Paragraph
However, the nose of the bear had not been firmly attached and has fallen off this morning. The bear was placed on a shelf immediately after the delivery and has not been touched since. I’m, therefore, entirely confident that the issue was caused during the manufacturing process, rather than something that happened since it was delivered.
Write the Third Paragraph
Then, we write the final paragraph as a response to the final prompt.
As this prompt requires us to say what we want the shop owner to do, it’s best to exclude any information about this in the other paragraphs.
If we had already said what we want the shop owner to do in paragraph 1 or 2, that would mean that we need to repeat that information here, which is bad for our Coherence and Cohesion score.
Sample Paragraph
As this product was purchased as a gift for my daughter’s birthday this weekend, I need you to send a replacement to me before the end of the week. My wife will be at home during the daytime, which means that your delivery driver can come at any time that is convenient for you.
Signing Off
Finally, we sign off.
If it’s an informal letter, write ‘Best wishes,‘ followed by your first name.
If it’s a formal letter, write ‘Yours sincerely,‘ followed by your first name and surname.
You can see this at the bottom of the full sample answer here.
Dear Sir or Madam,
Yesterday, the brown teddy bear which I ordered from your website was delivered to my house. The bear appears to be made from polyester, and it is wearing a purple dress and matching hat, which are fashioned from a heavy velvet material. As well as that, the bear’s paws are covered with red and white checkered cloth.
However, the nose of the bear had not been firmly attached and has fallen off this morning. The bear was placed on a shelf immediately after the delivery and has not been touched since. I’m, therefore, entirely confident that the issue was caused during the manufacturing process, rather than something that happened since it was delivered.
As this product was purchased as a gift for my daughter’s birthday this weekend, I need you to send a replacement to me before the end of the week. My wife will be at home during the daytime, which means that your delivery driver can come at any time that is convenient for you.
Yours sincerely,
Lar Ryan
Step 3 – Proofread the Answer
As with any piece of writing, the last thing you should do is proofread what you’ve written.
Focus on finding the types of vocabulary and grammar mistakes you make most often.
For instance, if you normally make a lot of punctuation mistakes while writing, focus on finding and fixing these during this step.
How to Improve in IELTS Writing Task 1 General
To get a good writing score, you need the IELTS test skills you are learning in this lesson, and you need the appropriate language ability.
This is why it’s so important that you continue to improve your vocabulary and grammar every day with my Vocabulary Improvement Strategy and Grammar Improvement Strategy.
After that, you need to practise answering IELTS Writing Task 1 General questions.
In the beginning, don’t worry about how long it takes you to write a letter.
Instead, just focus on the quality of your answer and doing everything correctly.
Once you’ve finished writing the answer, use this list of questions to help you find any mistakes.
- Did you use the correct tone?
- Is the answer consistent with the question’s situation?
- Did you begin the letter appropriately?
- Does the first sentence of each paragraph directly address the prompt?
- Does paragraph 1 discuss the first prompt and nothing else?
- Does paragraph 2 discuss the second prompt and nothing else?
- Does paragraph 3 discuss the third prompt and nothing else?
- Did you sign off appropriately?
Once you can write answers to the necessary standard, focus on doing this in 20 minutes or less.
That’s how much time you will have in the IELTS Writing Task 1 General test.
Practice Activity for IELTS Writing Task 1 General
Use the list of questions above to find mistakes in the sample answer below.
Sample Answer with Mistakes
Hi John,
A few weeks ago, I sent a photo I had taken to an art gallery in my hometown, and they have chosen it to appear in an exhibition they’re putting on next week. I had never submitted anything to an art gallery before, so I wasn’t expecting to hear back from them, which makes it all the more exciting for me.
The photograph which will be shown is one which I took at the pier approximately 6 months ago during the lovely weather that we experienced. It was about 10 o’clock, and the sun was setting behind the mountain on the far side of the river. Because of the timing, there was no glare from the sun, and it was casting a beautiful warm orange glow across the sky.
I wanted to ask if you would like to come to the exhibition with me. I don’t know any of the other photographers or the organisers, so I’d prefer not to go by myself. As well as that, you know a lot more about art than I do, so you could help me answer any difficult questions that I might get asked.
Best wishes,
Lar
Did you use the correct tone?
No, the answer doesn’t have the correct tone throughout.
Most of the letter is informal, but one sentence is too formal for a letter to a friend.
This is the sentence that isn’t appropriate: “The photograph which will be shown is one which I took at the pier approximately 6 months ago during the lovely weather that we experienced.“
This is what it should look like: “The photo they are showing is one that I took at the pier about 6 months back during that lovely weather that we had.“
Is the answer consistent with the question’s situation?
No, it isn’t.
The first sentence doesn’t match the situation described in the question.
The question says that it’s ‘your local art gallery,’ but the answer says ‘an art gallery in my hometown.‘
We wouldn’t refer to ‘our hometown‘ if it was where we were living, so this indicates that the art gallery isn’t local.
Did you begin the letter appropriately?
No, it doesn’t begin in the way the question instructed us.
The question says to begin with ‘Dear ………,‘ and that is what we should do.
Does the first sentence of each paragraph directly address the prompt?
Yes, the first sentence of every paragraph directly responds to the prompt.
Does paragraph 1 discuss the first prompt and nothing else?
Yes, it does.
Does paragraph 2 discuss the second prompt and nothing else?
Yes, it does.
Does paragraph 3 discuss the third prompt and nothing else?
No, it doesn’t.
The first sentence is about the invitation, and the rest is about why the writer wants their friend to come.
You can see a more appropriate response below.
I wanted to ask if you would like to come to the exhibition with me. The exhibition is on Wednesday and doesn’t start until 7 pm so I can pick you up at your place at around half five and we’ll get dinner somewhere first. So just let me know if you can go or not because I’ll find someone else to come with me if you’re not able.
Did you sign off appropriately?
Yes, the sign off is appropriate as ‘Best wishes,‘ followed by the writer’s first name is suitable for an informal letter.
What now?
If you haven’t already completed my other IELTS Writing Task 1 General lessons, that’s definitely the next step for you.
These useful tips from IDP are also worth checking out.
After that, begin writing your own Task 1 answers. You will find two practice tests here.
If you need more IELTS Writing Task 1 General questions, you can sign up for my newsletter below.
Finally, if you’d like to review the lesson you’ve just completed, you can watch this video about IELTS Writing Task 1 General Letter Writing.