A mix of personal story and a request — the band comes from making the career dilemma feel real, not from perfect paragraphing. The third bullet asks you to ask — so make sure you actually ask questions in the letter.
20 min·≥ 150 words·Reported · UK · 2025
You are thinking of changing your career but you are not sure whether it is the right decision. Your friend recently made a similar career change. Write a letter to this friend. In your letter: • explain your current job situation and why you want to change • tell them what kind of new career you are considering • ask for their advice about changing careers You do NOT need to write any addresses. Begin your letter as follows: Dear Alex,
How to crack it
A 4-step plan for the letter
Fix the register first.
Who is the reader — stranger, acquaintance, or friend? That decides every word from "Dear…" to the sign-off. Tone, purpose and bullet-point coverage contribute to Task Achievement; there is no published half-score allocation for register.
Cover every bullet point.
Address and develop each bullet point. One paragraph per bullet can help you plan, but it is not a compulsory structure or a whole-task band cap.
Open with the purpose.
"I am writing to…" (formal) or "Just wanted to tell you…" (informal). The reader should know why you're writing by the end of line one.
Close in the same voice.
"Yours faithfully" after Dear Sir or Madam; "Yours sincerely" after a name; "Best wishes" to a friend. A mismatched sign-off is a register error in the last line they read.
What loses you the band
The four traps this question sets
Mixed register
"I am writing to inform you" next to "gonna" — pick one voice and hold it.
A skipped bullet
All three bullet points must be covered AND developed. Two done well is still a penalty.
Copying the prompt
Paraphrase the situation in your own words — lifted lines don't count toward 150.
“An application letter for a part-time job at a local restaurant”
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“Some argue that companies should switch to a four-day working week. Do the advantages outw…”
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“More people are working from home rather than the office. Do the advantages outweigh the d…”
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Use plausible details
Letters benefit from relevant details that fit the situation. You can invent plausible details for the task; do not use sensitive personal information in public examples.