Writing 2 — a letter to a neighbour and an essay

A second full General Training Writing paper, deliberately unlike the first one in both tasks.

Task 1 is semi-formal rather than formal, which is the register most candidates are least sure of. You agreed some time ago to look after a neighbour's house and cat for a fortnight, and you now find you have to be away for part of it. The letter opens "Dear Mrs Okonkwo" — a real name, so not a stranger, but not a friend either — and the three bullets are an apology with a reason, the arrangement you have made for the days you will be away, and a question about what else they would like done.

The trap in this one is not vocabulary. It is the bullet that asks for an arrangement: a letter that apologises warmly, promises everything will be fine and never says who is feeding the cat has not covered it, however good the English is. An arrangement means a person, a set of days, and how they will get in. The second trap is the sign-off — "Dear Mrs Okonkwo" takes "Best wishes" or "Kind regards", never "Yours faithfully", and mixing the two is the most common register error on this task.

Task 2 is not a discuss-both-views essay this time, because the paper does not only set those. It is a causes-and-effects question about the rising number of people living alone, and it asks for two things. An answer that develops causes well and gives effects two lines cannot reach the top of task response no matter how good the causes are. Splitting it into two body paragraphs of comparable weight is most of the work.

You print the sheet, write on it, photograph the pages and upload them. The check goes task by task against the four criteria an examiner uses, with length checked first. It names what your answer did not do rather than issuing a band, and the useful move afterwards is to write the same task again rather than start a new one.

The situation, the neighbour and the cat are invented. No IELTS material is reproduced.

• Hold a semi-formal register — a name in the greeting, a warm but not chatty tone, and "Best wishes" or "Kind regards" rather than "Yours faithfully"
• Answer a bullet that asks for an arrangement with a person, a set of days and a practical detail, not with a reassurance
• Apologise and give a reason in two sentences instead of a paragraph of explanation
• Ask a real question in a letter, correctly formed, when a bullet asks you to
• Answer BOTH halves of a causes-and-effects essay at comparable length
• Develop two or three causes and two or three effects rather than listing six of each
• Distinguish an observed trend from a problem — living alone is not the same as being lonely, and saying so is worth marks

Writing Task 1 — 20 minutes, at least 150 words. A neighbour is going away for two weeks and you agreed some time ago to look after their house and their cat. You now find that you have to be away yourself for part of that fortnight. Write a letter to your neighbour. In your letter: apologise, and explain why you can no longer do the whole two weeks; say what arrangement you have made for the days you will be away; ask what else they would like you to do while they are gone. Begin your letter "Dear Mrs Okonkwo,".