Letter to a college friend proposing a reunion

The task

It is ten years since you left college. You'd like to organise an event to celebrate this anniversary with all your friends and classmates from college.

Write a letter to one of your college friends. In your letter:

→say what kind of celebration event you'd like to organise
→explain why you think it would be good to celebrate in this way
→describe what help you need to organise this event

Write at least 150 words. You do not need to write any addresses. Begin your letter: Dear ...,

Model answer

Band 8 sample letter

Band 8197 words. Names and details are invented; write your own.

Dear Sarah,

I hope you are doing well. It is hard to believe, but it has officially been ten years since we graduated! I have been thinking lately that it is high time we got the old group together to celebrate this milestone properly.

I am planning to organise a casual garden party at a rented venue in the city centre. I think a relaxed afternoon with a barbecue and some music would be the perfect way to catch up. It would provide a comfortable atmosphere where everyone can mingle easily, swap stories, and reminisce about our wild college days without the pressure of a formal dress code.

Since you were always the organiser of our social events, I was hoping you might be willing to help me coordinate this. Specifically, I need assistance in tracking down everyone’s current contact details and perhaps helping me choose a date that works for the majority. Your organisational skills are far superior to mine, and I would really value your input on the catering choices too.

Let me know if you are interested in helping me pull this off. It would be brilliant to see everyone again.

Best wishes,

James

Write your own and get a band

Answer this prompt in a timed General Training writing test and get a band for task achievement, coherence, vocabulary and grammar, with the sentences to fix.

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Examiner's view

Why this scores well

A Band 8 response addresses all bullet points with a clear, consistent informal tone and natural, cohesive language. A common Band 6 error is using overly formal or robotic structures like 'I am writing to inform you' which creates an unnatural tone for a letter to a friend.

→Write to a friend or relative by first name and close with Best wishes, Love or See you soon.
→Contractions, phrasal verbs and a warm opening line are expected; a stiff formal tone loses marks here.
→Still cover every bullet in its own paragraph; friendly does not mean unstructured.

6 phrases

Useful phrases from the letter

milestone
a significant event or stage in life
reminisce
to talk or write about past experiences
mingle
to move around and talk to others
coordinate
to organise different elements into a whole
input
the contribution of information or ideas
pull this off
to succeed in doing something difficult

Frequently asked questions

Is this letter formal or informal?+

Informal. Write to a friend or relative by first name and close with Best wishes, Love or See you soon.

How many words should an IELTS General Training letter be?+

At least 150 words, and 160 to 200 is the comfortable range. Spend about 20 minutes on it and leave 40 for Task 2, which carries twice the marks.

What does the examiner look for?+

Keep practising

More making arrangements letters

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