7 Common IELTS General Training Task 1 Mistakes (Letters)
GT Task 1 looks like the easy half of the paper, which is exactly why it costs marks. The seven letter mistakes examiners see most - answering a near neighbour of the prompt, mismatched sign-offs, undeveloped bullets - each with a fix.
General Training Task 1 looks like the easy half of the paper, which is exactly why it costs marks. Most candidates pour their preparation into Task 2 and walk into a letter task with conventions they have never practised.
The letter is graded on whether it does its job for its reader. These are the seven places that goes wrong, in rough order of how much they cost you.
1. Not answering the prompt’s specific detail
Task AchievementRead the instruction word by word. A prompt asking you to describe the gifts you received wants description - what they were like, why they mattered, how you felt about them. A list of gift names answers a question that was never asked.
This is the most common way a fluent, well-organized letter still lands at Band 5 or 6 for Task Achievement. Nothing in it is wrong; it simply answers a near neighbour of the actual question.
Prompt: "Describe the gifts you received." - "I received a watch, a book, a pair of headphones and a gift card."
My favorite was a watch from my brother, an old model he had repaired himself. It arrived in the same box he had kept it in since university, which made it feel far more personal than anything new.
The fix: Underline the instruction verb - describe, explain, suggest, complain - and check your paragraph actually performs it. Naming things is not describing them.
2. The wrong sign-off for your greeting
Task AchievementThis is a genuine convention, not a stylistic preference, and it is checked. If you do not know the recipient’s name and open with "Dear Sir" or "Dear Madam", you close with "Yours faithfully". If you open with a name - "Dear Mr Hassan" - you close with "Yours sincerely".
Informal letters sit outside the rule entirely: "Dear Anna" pairs with "Best wishes", "Take care" or "Love", never with "Yours faithfully".
Dear Madam, ... Yours sincerely, Manoj
Dear Madam, ... Yours faithfully, Manoj
The fix: Write the greeting and the sign-off together before you write the body. Name unknown - faithfully. Name known - sincerely.
3. Not writing enough
Task AchievementThe minimum is 150 words and under-length answers are penalized directly, before content is even considered. GT candidates run short far more often than Task 2 candidates, because a letter feels finished sooner than an essay does.
Aim for 170-190 words. That range clears the minimum with enough margin for a miscount, without pushing you into padding.
A 130-word letter that covers all three bullets in a sentence each and closes.
A 180-word letter where each bullet carries a claim plus one supporting detail - a date, a reason, a specific arrangement.
The fix: Know your own handwriting: count the words in three lines once, and you can estimate any letter in seconds during the exam.
4. Bullets that are mentioned, not developed
Task AchievementMost candidates drill idea development for Task 2 and assume a letter does not need it. It does. Each of the three bullet points needs a claim and something behind it - a reason, a consequence, a specific detail.
The usual shape of the failure is imbalance rather than omission: two bullets get a proper paragraph and the third gets one rushed clause at the end. Because the bullets are weighted equally, that third one drags the whole criterion down.
I will leave at the end of May.
My last working day would be 31 May. Before then I can document my current projects and, if it helps, train whoever takes over the client accounts.
The fix: One paragraph per bullet, two or three sentences each. If a paragraph is a single line, that bullet is not covered.
5. Generic copied templates
Lexical ResourceOpeners like "I am writing this letter to inform you" or "I am writing to bring to your kind attention" are instantly recognizable, and because the phrasing is not yours they demonstrate no vocabulary control at all.
They also waste the position where relevance is easiest to show. The first line after the greeting is where an examiner sees whether you understood the task.
I am writing this letter to bring to your kind attention the aforementioned matter.
I am writing about a billing error on my account, which has been charged twice for the same order.
The fix: Make the first sentence state your specific purpose and name the specific thing. Save the template phrases for nothing at all.
6. Irrelevant detail about your life
Task AchievementBackground about your job, your course or your family only earns marks when the task asked for it. A paragraph explaining your degree, your commute or your family situation in a letter about a faulty appliance is off-topic content, and off-topic content is scored as such.
It usually creeps in when a candidate is trying to reach the word count and reaches for whatever they can write fluently.
I have been working as a software engineer for six years, having graduated from Delhi University in 2019, and I commute an hour each way, so my time is limited.
I am usually at work until 7pm, so an evening or weekend appointment would suit me best.
The fix: Every sentence should serve one of the three bullets. If you cannot say which bullet it belongs to, cut it.
7. Going beyond what the task asked
Coherence & CohesionThe opposite of under-writing, and just as costly. Offering commitments nobody requested - promising to cover costs, volunteering for extra duties, proposing arrangements outside the prompt - takes a formal letter past its remit.
So does restating a point you have already made in new words. Both are usually attempts to reach the word count, and both read as padding rather than range.
I would also be happy to fund the repairs myself, work weekends until a replacement is found, and assist with any other departmental needs.
I would be grateful if you could arrange a replacement, and I look forward to hearing from you within the week.
The fix: If you are short, add depth to an existing bullet rather than a new promise. Length should come from developing what was asked, not from adding what was not.
GT Task 1 rewards preparation more than talent
Six of these seven are rules rather than skills. Greeting and sign-off pairs, three bullets with equal weight, 170-190 words, nothing off-topic - none of that depends on how good your English is, and all of it can be locked in with a handful of practice letters.
That is why GT Task 1 is usually the quickest band to raise. Write three letters - one formal, one semi-formal, one informal - get each marked, and the conventions stop being something you have to remember.
Frequently asked questions
Should I write "Yours sincerely" or "Yours faithfully"?+
It depends on your greeting. If you open with "Dear Sir" or "Dear Madam" because you do not know the name, close with "Yours faithfully". If you open with a name, such as "Dear Mr Hassan", close with "Yours sincerely". Informal letters use "Best wishes" or "Take care" instead.
How long should an IELTS General Training Task 1 letter be?+
The minimum is 150 words and under-length letters are penalised directly, so aim for 170-190. That clears the minimum with margin for a miscount without pushing you into padding. If you are short, add a concrete detail to a bullet - a date, a reason, an arrangement - rather than a new pleasantry.
Do I need to develop ideas in GT Task 1, or just mention them?+
You need to develop them. Most candidates drill idea development for Task 2 and assume a letter does not need it. Each of the three bullets needs a claim plus something behind it - a reason, a consequence, a specific detail. Two developed bullets and one rushed clause drags Task Achievement down even in a well-written letter.
Why is my GT letter scoring low when nothing in it is wrong?+
Usually because it answers a near neighbour of the question. If the prompt says describe the gifts you received, it wants description - what they were like, why they mattered - not a list of gift names. A fluent, well-organized letter that performs the wrong instruction still caps Task Achievement around Band 5 or 6.
Can I add extra detail to reach the word count?+
Not detail the task did not ask for. Background about your job or studies in a letter about a faulty appliance is off-topic content and is scored as such, and unsolicited commitments take a formal letter past its remit. If you are short, add depth to an existing bullet instead.
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