1. Turn a general wish into an answerable request
A request letter should make it easy for the reader to understand what help is needed and decide how to respond. “Please help with our event” is courteous but incomplete. The reader still needs to know what kind of help, when it is needed and what arrangements the writer can make. This lesson focuses on those decisions rather than teaching a reusable formal-letter template.
General Training Writing Task 1 asks for at least 150 words, with about 20 minutes suggested for the task. Your relationship with the recipient affects the tone, and postal addresses are not required. See the official IELTS format guidance for those requirements. The scenario below is original and fictional; it is not a real request to a library.
Original practice task
Borrowing boards for a history display
You are helping organise a neighbourhood history exhibition at a community hall. The local library has portable display boards that could be useful. Write to Ms Vale, a librarian you have met while doing research. In your letter:
- explain what the exhibition is about;
- describe what you would like to borrow and why;
- suggest arrangements for collecting and returning the equipment.
Begin “Dear Ms Vale,”. Write at least 150 words. Use plausible invented details without assuming the library has already agreed.
Allow about 20 minutes including planning and checking. This timer counts up and does not submit your writing.
2. Plan around the reader's decision
Write a compact request specification before drafting: three portable boards; photographs and short captions; a one-day event; Friday collection; Monday return. The event's purpose gives context, but the equipment and dates make the request actionable. Choose details that support the three task points instead of adding a long history of the neighbourhood.
- Introduce the event briefly. Say who is organising it, where it will happen and what visitors will see. A sentence about old photographs creates enough context for the equipment request.
- Specify the resource. Ask for three boards rather than “some things”. Explain why freestanding boards are useful in a hall where displays cannot be attached to the walls.
- Offer practical arrangements. State when you can collect and return the boards and how you will transport them. Do not promise services you cannot plausibly provide.
- Leave the decision open. Ask whether the boards are available and what borrowing requirements apply. A request is not a declaration that the recipient has agreed.
The writer has met Ms Vale in a professional setting, so a courteous personal greeting and straightforward language fit. You do not need to label every letter rigidly as formal or semi-formal. Focus on the actual relationship: polite and familiar enough to mention the research visit, but not close enough for jokes, teasing or very casual demands.
Put essential information in the letter itself. “I can provide more details” can be useful at the end, but it should not replace the requested dates or description of equipment. A reader should be able to make an initial decision without sending several avoidable questions. For broader greeting and closing choices, compare the formal-letter lesson.
Write your own response
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3. Compare the original model letter
Read this original model after drafting your own request. It demonstrates a practical structure and does not claim an examiner score or guaranteed result.
Read the model letter and explanation
Dear Ms Vale,
Thank you for helping me find the old neighbourhood photographs last month. I am now helping to organise a small history exhibition at Willow Community Hall on Saturday 21 November, and I would like to ask whether we could borrow some of the library’s display boards.
The exhibition will show how the local high street has changed, using photographs supplied by residents and short accounts of their memories. It will be open to anyone in the neighbourhood, and several volunteers will be there to answer questions about the pictures.
Would it be possible to borrow three portable boards for the day? We need a secure place to display the photographs and captions, but the hall does not allow anything to be attached to its walls. The boards I saw during my last visit would be ideal if they are available.
I could collect them on Friday afternoon and return them on Monday morning. Another volunteer has a van, so we can transport them without assistance from library staff. Please let me know whether these arrangements would suit you and whether there are any borrowing requirements we should follow.
Yours sincerely,
Jamie Ellis
Notice how each detail helps the decision
- The opening reconnects the writer with Ms Vale and states the request. The friendly reference is relevant because the librarian helped with the exhibition research.
- The event paragraph explains its subject and audience. It does not overwhelm the request with a complete programme.
- The equipment paragraph gives a quantity and a reason for choosing portable boards. “If they are available” recognises the library may need them.
- The final paragraph handles collection, return and transport, then asks about conditions. It does not invent a borrowing policy or assume the loan is free.
Notice the difference between “I could collect” and “I will collect”. The conditional form proposes an arrangement before approval. Once the librarian agrees, a later confirmation could use a definite future form. In this task, approval has not happened yet.
4. Practise requests that are clear and courteous
Exercise A: replace an assumption with a request
Revise “Keep three boards ready for me. I will collect them on Friday.” Preserve the useful quantity and proposed collection day.
Check a polite alternative
“Would it be possible to borrow three boards? If they are available, I could collect them on Friday afternoon.” The revision asks for permission and makes the timing a proposal. It does not hide the exact resource behind vague language.
Exercise B: find the missing practical detail
This plan explains the exhibition, asks for three boards and offers collection by van on Friday. It finishes with “Thank you for considering my request.” Which part of the task is still incomplete?
Check the omitted arrangement
The return arrangement is missing. Add a suitable day and time, such as Monday morning, and ask whether it works for the library. A pleasant closing does not cover a content point. Collection and return are related, but mentioning one does not automatically explain the other.
Exercise C: choose a relevant reason
Which reason supports the board request more directly: “Our neighbourhood has many interesting stories” or “We cannot attach photographs to the hall walls”?
Check the stronger connection
The wall restriction explains why portable boards are needed. The interesting stories explain the exhibition's appeal and may belong in the event description, but they do not establish why this particular equipment is useful. Place reasons next to the request they support.
5. Test whether your request can be answered
Underline the sentence that names what you need. Circle the quantity, date and return arrangement. If these details are scattered across unrelated paragraphs, group them more logically. Then check whether your reasons explain the need or merely repeat that you would be grateful. Gratitude works best alongside a well-developed request.
Review tone in both directions. Replace abrupt commands, but also remove elaborate phrases that make a simple request hard to read. “I would be grateful if…” is enough; you do not need several layers of apology before asking. Keep the letter as connected prose rather than turning the three bullet points into a numbered application form.
For another attempt, imagine only two boards are available. Draft a short revised request asking for two boards and suggesting smaller photograph groups. This trains flexibility while keeping the original purpose. If the loan had already been agreed and the wrong equipment arrived, the communicative purpose would change; compare the complaint-letter lesson to see how an established expectation changes the explanation and remedy.
Format checked on 15 October 2026 against official IELTS General Training Writing guidance. The practice task, model and explanations are original. This independent lesson is not an official IELTS test and does not provide a band score.