Letter to a friend cancelling theatre plans

The task

Your friend bought tickets to the theatre for both of you.

Write a letter to a friend to tell him that you cannot go to the theatre. In your letter:

→apologize
→explain the situation
→tell him what he can do with the extra ticket

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

Model answer

Band 8 sample letter

Band 8194 words. Names and details are invented; write your own.

Dear Sam,

I am so incredibly sorry to let you down, but I am afraid I will not be able to join you at the theatre this coming Friday night as we had planned.

I feel terrible about this, especially since you went to the trouble of booking the tickets weeks ago. Unfortunately, an urgent work deadline has just been dropped on my desk, and my manager has insisted that I stay late all week to finalise a project report. It is completely unexpected, and I am genuinely disappointed that I have to miss the show.

Regarding the extra ticket, please do not worry about losing money on it. Since it is such a popular performance, I am sure you could easily sell it to another friend or perhaps post it on our local social media group; there is always someone looking for a last-minute seat. If you cannot find anyone, please let me know, and I will happily reimburse you for the cost of my ticket immediately.

I hope you still manage to enjoy the performance despite the change of plans. Let’s catch up properly once this busy period passes.

Best wishes,

Alex

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 clearly addresses all three bullet points with a consistent, natural informal tone and well-developed explanations. The most common Band 6 error is failing to offer a clear solution for the extra ticket, or using overly formal language that contradicts the personal nature of the letter.

→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

let you down
disappoint someone by failing to do something
dropped on my desk
given a task unexpectedly and suddenly
finalise
to complete the last parts of something
reimburse
to pay someone back for money spent
genuinely
in a sincere or honest way
catch up
to talk to someone you have not seen

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

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