General Training Writing Task 1 · formal · complaint

Letter to the editor regarding public transport: IELTS formal letter sample

An IELTS General Training Writing Task 1 formal letter with a Band 8 sample answer, why it scores well and the phrases worth borrowing for your own letter writing.
  • 177 words
  • Formal letters
  • Complaint
  • 20 minutes

The task

You read an article in a local newspaper that you strongly disagree with.

Write a letter to the editor. In your letter:

  • →state which article you are referring to
  • →explain your reasons for disagreeing with the article
  • →suggest an alternative viewpoint that they should consider publishing

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

Model answer

Band 8 sample letter

Band 8177 words. Names and details are invented; write your own.

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing to express my strong dissatisfaction with the article titled 'Buses are Redundant in Modern Cities', published in your edition last Wednesday. I believe the author’s arguments are significantly flawed and misrepresent the reality of our local infrastructure.

My primary disagreement stems from the claim that increasing car ownership renders public transport obsolete. The author fails to acknowledge that our city’s streets are already at maximum capacity; encouraging more private vehicles will only exacerbate the current congestion and pollution crisis. Furthermore, the article ignores the needs of lower-income residents who rely exclusively on bus services for their daily commute to work.

Instead of advocating for further car-centric development, I suggest you publish a follow-up piece exploring the benefits of expanding our existing light rail and bus networks. Investigating how cities like Copenhagen successfully prioritised mass transit over private cars would provide readers with a more balanced and forward-thinking perspective.

I look forward to seeing a more nuanced discussion on this critical urban issue in your future editions.

Yours faithfully,

Arthur Pendelton

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

This letter achieves Band 8 by addressing all bullet points with a clear, consistent, and sophisticated formal tone throughout. A common Band 6 mistake is failing to suggest a concrete alternative viewpoint, instead simply repeating the disagreement.

  • →Write to an organisation or someone you do not know: open with Dear Sir or Madam, close with Yours faithfully.
  • →If you know the person's surname, use Dear Mr or Ms and close with Yours sincerely.
  • →No contractions, no slang; polite indirect requests such as I would be grateful if you could.

6 phrases

Useful phrases from the letter

  • misrepresent

    give a false or misleading account of something

  • exacerbate

    make a problem or bad situation become worse

  • obsolete

    no longer produced or used; out of date

  • car-centric

    designed or planned primarily for the use of cars

  • nuanced

    characterized by subtle shades of meaning or expression

  • infrastructure

    the basic physical systems of a city or region

Frequently asked questions

Is this letter formal or informal?+

Formal. Write to an organisation or someone you do not know: open with Dear Sir or Madam, close with Yours faithfully.

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?+

This letter achieves Band 8 by addressing all bullet points with a clear, consistent, and sophisticated formal tone throughout. A common Band 6 mistake is failing to suggest a concrete alternative viewpoint, instead simply repeating the disagreement.

Keep practising

More complaint letters

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