Dear Rahul, Last week I went to Mysore on a fabulous trip. The local tourist centre suggested that I should visit the royal palace of Tipu Sultan, the Nizam of Karnataka in the 16th century. The place was a jewel and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I would like to take you there next time. On the day of my visit, coincidently it was also the festival of Dussehra and the whole palace was lit up brightly as part of the celebration. According to a local, the electricity used up on that day to light up the palace is almost equal to the electricity used up by the city throughout the year! The interior of the palace was as amazing as the gleaming exterior. There were specimens of weapons that were used during the wars in those times, pictures painted on the canvas of the royal family, details of the wars fought by the King and many more interesting things which are important from the point of view of Indian culture and history. I wish to visit the palace again to be a part of the grand celebration and I would like to invite you to join me. I promise it would be a great experience. Warm wishes, Ripal
Letter to a Friend About an Impressive Place
You recently visited a place that had a strong impact on you. Now you want to write to your friend about the place. Write a letter to a friend about the place. In your letter: - explain where the place was and how you got there - describe what you saw - offer to take your friend there
Annotated response
2 correction notes
Overall assessment
Why this response received Band 6.5
The letter gives an engaging description of the palace and a clear invitation in a personal tone. However, it omits how the writer travelled to the place, leaving part of the first bullet point unanswered. The single-paragraph presentation and occasional awkward phrasing also limit the organisation and precision.
IELTS criteria
How each score was decided
Task Achievement
6.0The letter identifies the place, describes the palace visit in detail and clearly invites the friend to return with the writer. However, it does not explain how the writer travelled there; the tourist centre’s recommendation does not supply the missing journey information.
Coherence and Cohesion
6.0The sequence from the visit through the palace description to an invitation is clear, with suitable linking and references. However, the whole letter, including its greeting and closing, is one paragraph, so its different purposes are not clearly separated.
Lexical Resource
7.0Vocabulary is reasonably flexible and descriptive, including phrases like 'lit up brightly' and 'gleaming exterior', with occasional awkward collocations such as 'the place was a jewel' and 'electricity used up'.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
7.0A good range of sentence structures is used with generally accurate control, including complex forms like 'the electricity used up on that day to light up the palace is almost equal to...', with only minor errors that do not impede meaning.