Formal Letter Inviting an HR Manager to a Community Event
A complete IELTS General Training Writing Task 1 question with a model answer of 193 words, plus a breakdown of the sentence structures, cohesive devices and vocabulary that answer uses. Write your own version first, then compare.
Written by Manish Sharma · CELTA and DELTA qualified · 8 years teaching IELTS
Score my answer to this questionThe question
You have 20 minutes. Write at least 150 words.
You are organising a community careers event in your neighbourhood and would like a local company to take part. Write a letter to the HR manager of the company. In your letter: - Explain who you are and what the event is about - Describe the role you would like the company to play - Provide practical details such as date, time, and venue Write at least 150 words. You do NOT need to write any addresses. Begin your letter as follows: Dear Mr Patel,
How to approach it
- 01Open with 'Dear Mr Patel,' and close with 'Yours sincerely,' since the recipient's name is given
- 02Use a polite, formal register — avoid contractions and casual phrasing
- 03Cover all three bullet points clearly, ideally one short paragraph for each
- 04Include concrete logistical details: date, time, venue, audience size, and what is expected
- 05Use professional phrases: 'I am writing on behalf of', 'we would be honoured', 'please let me know by'
- 06End with a clear call to action and a deadline for response
Model answer
193 words in 6 paragraphs. Read it after you have written your own, not before: the point of a model answer is to show you what you missed, and you cannot miss anything you have not attempted.
Dear Mr Patel,
I am writing on behalf of the Riverside Community Association, where I serve as the volunteer coordinator. We are organising a careers and skills fair aimed at school leavers and unemployed residents in our neighbourhood, and we would be honoured if Northbridge Engineering could take part.
The event is intended to give local young people a clearer picture of the career pathways available in our region and to connect them with employers who are actively recruiting. Given Northbridge's strong reputation for apprenticeship programmes, we feel your company would be a particularly valuable contributor.
Specifically, we would be grateful if you could host a small information stand and deliver a fifteen-minute talk on apprenticeship opportunities for school leavers. There will be roughly two hundred attendees over the course of the afternoon.
The fair will be held on Saturday, 14 June, from 11 am to 4 pm at Riverside Community Hall on Mill Lane. Refreshments and a private breakout room will be provided for guest speakers. Please let me know by 1 June whether you are able to attend, and I will be delighted to confirm the arrangements.
Yours sincerely, Helena Mortimer
What this answer actually does
Measured from the text above, and compared against the other 31 answers of the same type in this library. These are counts, not band scores: they describe what the writing does, which is the part you can copy.
31 fewer than the median answer for this task type
4 words at the shortest, 30 at the longest
1 fewer than the median answer for this task type
carry a subordinate or relative clause
Sentence rhythm
Sentences average 19.3 words and vary by 7.6 words either side of that, running from 4 words to 30. Variation is the point. Grammatical Range and Accuracy rewards a mix of simple and complex sentences, and an answer where every sentence is the same length reads as flat no matter how correct it is. 4 of the 10 sentences here carry a subordinate or relative clause.
The cohesive devices it uses
1 in total, spread across 1 different functions. Range matters more than count: an answer that opens every paragraph with a sequencer signals its structure but never signals a relationship between ideas, and Coherence and Cohesion is marked on both.
specifically
Vocabulary and repetition
Ignoring grammar words, 87 per cent of the content words in this answer are distinct, and 77 per cent appear exactly once. Lexical Resource is where repetition costs the most marks, and the usual cause is not a small vocabulary but reaching for the same noun every time the topic is named.
The longest run of words copied straight from the question is 3 words. Examiners discount wording lifted from the question, so a short run here is the right outcome: the answer restates the topic in its own words rather than borrowing the question's.
What you are marked on
All four criteria carry equal weight, and your Writing band is their average rounded to the nearest half band.
Task Achievement
Address all three bullet points with appropriate detail and maintain a clear formal purpose throughout.
Coherence & Cohesion
Organise the letter with logical paragraphing, an effective opening and closing, and clear linking.
Lexical Resource
Use appropriately formal vocabulary and accurate collocations for an invitation letter.
Grammatical Range & Accuracy
Demonstrate accurate use of polite forms, modal verbs, and complex sentence structures.
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