Analysis of official IELTS General Writing Task 1 letter tasks

This is a detailed analysis of all 46 IELTS GT Writing Task 1 letter tasks published in official Cambridge IELTS exam practice books 1 to 16 from 1995 to 2022. It starts with a summary of how the tasks are similar to and different from each other, then there is a table going through each task in detail. This summary and list are designed to help make exam practice materials reflect the real test, to help with prioritising what to study, and to help search for tests which match what you particularly want to practise. For over 100 pages of IELTS General Writing classroom materials, see: https://www.usingenglish.com/e-books/ielts-writing/

Summary of official Cambridge IELTS General Writing Task 1 letter tasks

Kinds of letter and who to

• You need to write to a very wide variety of people, with recurring situations being a friend (11 out of 46 tasks, most recently in 2021), possible future or new employer (6 tasks), newspaper or magazine (4 tasks), boss/ manager (4 tasks, most recently in 2018), shop/ retailer (4 tasks), someone in an educational institution such as a teacher or administrator (3 tasks), local council/ local government (2 tasks), neighbour (2 tasks, in 2006 and 2007), hotel (2 tasks)
• There are a huge number of different kinds of letter, with the only ones recurring being complaints about bad service etc (6 out of 46 tasks), job applications (5 tasks), giving a friend advice (5 tasks), requests to your boss (for a job placement, time off, etc, 3 tasks), getting lost property (2 tasks), giving feedback on something you were asked to (2 tasks), and giving opinions/ opposing (2 tasks, most recently in 2021). Most kinds of letter (selling something, apologising, etc) only occur once.
• Only 8 out of 46 tasks are definitely replies to letters, though there are others which probably are (but could be after phone calls, etc) or are responses to other things such as job ads and articles in magazines

Opening and formality

• In 25 out of 46 tasks, you are told to start with “Dear…,”, most commonly in informal situations in which “Dear + first name” would be most suitable
• In 20 out of 46 tasks, you are told to start with “Dear Sir or Madam,” because you have had no contact with that person
• All tasks give a comma at the end of “Dear…,” or “Dear Sir or Madam,” (presumably to make it look more like a letter and less like an email)
• 27 out of 46 tasks should clearly be formal letters
• 11 out of 46 tasks should clearly be informal letters
• The remaining tasks have unclear formality, mainly because you are writing to someone like your boss, meaning that the level of formality can depend on your relationship, and depend on how you choose to complete the opening greeting “Dear…,”

Functions in the body of the letter

• In almost all tasks, the writer will need to explain/ describe/ give information (but the kinds of language needed to do so varies greatly by situation and topic, so this is not easy to teach and study for)
• In 25 out of 46 letters, the writer needs to give a reason or reasons (plus many more tasks in which that is likely to be suitable)
• In 14 tasks, the writer needs to complain, give bad news or give negative feedback
• In 13 letters, the writer needs to suggest/ advise/ recommend
• In 11 tasks, the writer needs to make a request (though in some of those a stronger demand might also be okay)
• In 8 tasks, the writer needs to thank, compliment, give good news, or give positive feedback
• In 6 tasks, the writer needs to invite or respond to an invitation (most recently in 2022)
• In 4 tasks, the writer needs to arrange something such as a meeting someone
• In 3 tasks, the writer needs to give an opinion on something such as what happens to their town
• In 3 tasks, the writer needs to introduce themselves (not since 2007, and for most other tasks where the writer could introduce themselves it would be better to get straight to the reason for writing)
• In 2 tasks, the writer needs to explain consequences (which can also be used to give reasons in other tasks)
• In 2 tasks, the writer is asked to apologise (not since 2006, but apologising can also be used in a couple of other tasks and it can be learnt with giving bad news)

Things to cover in each bullet point

• 17 tasks have two points or a plural in one of the three bullet points (most recently in 2021)

Recent trends in IELTS General Writing Task 1 letter tasks

• Since 2020 (and in three out of four tests in 2019), all the tasks are replying to something/ following up on something such as an email, an ad or a conversation that you had (and so the writer should probably mention what they are replying to in the opening line).
• Since 2020 (and in three out of four tests in 2019), all the tasks could (and usually should) be written in clearly formal style or clearly informal/ casual/ friendly style, with no need for medium-formality letters (meaning that the candidate can quickly decide on the right level of formality, and can use either formal written language or idiomatic language to impress the examiner)
• The form of the name after “Dear” (“Dear Mrs Barrett,” instead of just “Dear…,”) is given for the first time ever in 2021 (though only once)

There are no major changes to what kinds of functions are needed in the body, with recent top results and the range of different functions similar to the general summary above.

Oddities in official IELTS General Writing Task 1 letter tasks

• There have been two examples of tasks asking for informal emails recently. However, all the official IELTS information only says “letter”, so this must be a mistake.
• Especially in the tasks that say “email” and in letters to friends, there are many examples where “Dear” would be too formal in real life (but you have to use it because the task tells you to)
• There are a few examples of situations where you probably know or could easily find out the name and so would use it in real life, but you must use “Dear Sir or Madam,” because the task tells you to
• There is one example of “Dear Sir,” and one example of “Dear Sir/ Madam,” (instead of “Dear Sir or Madam,”), but these are in books 1 to 3, which are generally pretty strange and so can be safely ignored
• Book 1 also lacks the three bullet points with three things the writer must do, but again this can be ignored
• In some books, none of the tasks are responses to other communication

See * in the table below for things which stand out in particular tests.

Conclusions

• Candidates should mainly practice writing letters which are clearly formal or clearly informal, avoiding medium formality
• Candidates need opening lines to deal with both responding after a letter etc and starting a new conversation
• Candidates need a very wide range of (both formal and informal) functional for the body of the letter, starting with the most common ones above

Year by year detailed analysis of official Cambridge IELTS GT Writing Task 1 letters

This table shows if each task is a reply or not, who the candidate must write to, why they are writing, how they should start, the level of formality, functional language in the body, and how many points they have to cover. * means a surprising point like things which are different in all the other tests or a mistake.