Langujet
    Commencer gratuitement
    All recent IELTS questions
    Writing Task 1Reported 25 July 2026

    GT letter: something was damaged at a friend's home

    The question

    You stayed at a friend's home while they were away, and your child accidentally damaged something. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter, explain what was damaged, how it happened, and how it could be repaired or replaced.

    How to answer it

    An apology letter to a friend, so the register is informal but the structure is strict: apologise in the opening line, then take the three bullets in order and give each its own short paragraph. The third bullet is where candidates lose marks — do not just offer vaguely to pay; name the fix, say you have already found a replacement or called someone, and offer a choice. Sound sorry without grovelling for a paragraph.

    What moves the band

    • Informal openings and closings: Dear Sam / Hi Sam … All the best, Anna. Never 'Dear Sir or Madam'.
    • Contractions and phrasal verbs are correct here: I'm so sorry, it slipped out of her hands, I'll sort it out, make it up to you.
    • Cover all three bullets — an unaddressed bullet caps Task Achievement no matter how good the English is.

    Two essays, two bands

    Both essays below respond to this exact question. Read them in order: the difference between them is what a band is actually made of. They are written by us for this page — they are not candidate transcripts.

    Band 6.5

    What a 6.5 sounds like

    Dear Sir or Madam,

    I am writing this letter to inform you about an incident which occurred while I was staying at your house last week, and to express my sincere apologies for it.

    Regarding what was damaged, it was the blue vase which was situated on the small table in your living room. As far as the circumstances are concerned, my daughter was playing with a ball in the room and unfortunately the ball hit the table, as a result of which the vase fell down and broke into several pieces.

    In relation to the repair, I would like to say that I am very willing to pay for it. Please let me know how much it costs and I will send you the money as soon as possible. Once again, I am extremely sorry for this unfortunate situation.

    I look forward to hearing from you.

    Yours faithfully, Maria

    Why it scores what it scores: The three bullets are all covered and the sentences are controlled, so this is not a weak script. Two things cap it. The register is wrong end to end — Dear Sir or Madam and Yours faithfully to a friend whose house you stayed in, plus regarding, as far as the circumstances are concerned, in relation to. And the third bullet is answered with an open offer to pay rather than a fix, which the plan flags as where candidates lose marks.

    Band 8

    What an 8 sounds like

    Hi Sam,

    I owe you an apology, and I'd rather tell you now than let you walk in and find it. The blue vase on the little table in your living room is broken — the tall one with the pattern round the top.

    Here's what happened. Lily was throwing a ball around the living room, which I had already told her twice not to do, and on the third go it clipped the edge of the table. The vase went straight off and there wasn't much left of it. Nobody was hurt, and she's been very quiet about it since, which is unusual for her.

    As for putting it right — I've had a look and the same one is still sold at the shop on Elm Street, so I can pick it up before you're back and you'd never know. If it was a gift or it meant something, though, tell me and I'll leave it. I'd rather replace it with something you actually choose than guess. Either way it's on me, obviously.

    Sorry again. Let me know which you'd prefer and I'll sort it out this week.

    All the best, Anna

    Why it scores what it scores: The register is right from the first line and stays right — I owe you an apology, clipped the edge, it's on me, I'll sort it out — which is what the plan means by contractions and phrasal verbs being correct here. The third bullet is where this pulls clear of the 6.5: it names the shop, offers a specific fix, and then offers a choice in case the object mattered. That is a real person writing, and it covers the bullet completely rather than gesturing at it.

    Phrases worth stealing

    • “I owe you an apology, and I'd rather tell you now than let you walk in and find it”
    • “which I had already told her twice not to do”
    • “she's been very quiet about it since, which is unusual for her”
    • “I'd rather replace it with something you actually choose than guess”
    • “Either way it's on me, obviously”

    These are candidate recalls. These are questions reported by test-takers after their exams, not official or leaked IELTS material. Wording varies by test version, location and memory. Use them for timed practice — never as a prediction of what you will be asked.

    Practise these next

    Know the number. Now move it.

    A conversion table tells you where you stand today. Langujet's AI marks your writing and speaking against the real rubric and tells you exactly which criterion is holding your score down.