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IELTS Writing Task 1 asks for at least 150 words in about 20 minutes. In General Training it is a letter — formal, semi-formal or informal — that covers three bullet points; in Academic it is a report describing a chart, graph, table, map or process. Each question below comes with a band 9 model answer and, for letters, the tone, opening and closing that suit it.
| General Training Task 1 | Academic Task 1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Task | A letter responding to a situation, covering three bullet points | A report describing a chart, graph, table, map or process |
| Tone | Formal, semi-formal or informal, depending on the reader | Formal and impersonal |
| Minimum length | 150 words | 150 words |
| Suggested time | 20 minutes | 20 minutes |
At least 150 words. Around 160 to 190 words is a sensible target: shorter answers are penalised, and much longer ones take time away from Task 2.
Academic Task 1 is a factual report on visual information such as a bar chart, line graph, table, map or process diagram. General Training Task 1 is a letter responding to a situation, written in a formal, semi-formal or informal tone.
If you do not know the reader's name, open with "Dear Sir or Madam" and close with "Yours faithfully". If you know the name, use "Dear Mr/Ms Surname" and "Yours sincerely". Informal letters to a friend open with their first name and close with a friendly phrase such as "Best wishes".
Task 2 counts twice as much as Task 1, so Task 1 is about one third of the Writing band. Spend about 20 minutes on it and keep 40 minutes for Task 2.