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Letter to a Pen Pal

Letter Writing

Foundation

25 minutes

Independent

The Prompt

“Write a letter to a pen pal in another country, telling them about your life and where you live.”

Planning Hints

4 tips to help you plan your response

This is informal — write as you would to a friend.

Include interesting details about your daily life, school, hobbies, and family.

Describe your town or area so they can picture it.

Ask questions to show interest in their life too.

Starter Sentences

Suggested opening lines to get you started

“Hi! I'm so glad we're going to be pen pals. Let me tell you a bit about myself.”

“Dear Yuki, Thank you for your letter — I loved hearing about Tokyo!”

“Where do I even start? I suppose the basics: my name is Sam, I'm ten, and I live in a village so small that we don't even have our own postcode.”

Key Techniques to Demonstrate

Techniques the examiner will be looking for in your response

Annotated Model Answer

A high-quality example response with techniques highlighted

22 Mill Lane Little Barton Suffolk IP29 6TH 4th March 2026 Dear Yuki, Thank you for your letter — I've read it about four times already! Tokyo sounds incredible. I can't imagine living somewhere with THAT many people. The busiest place near me is the Co-op on a Saturday morning, and even that's only about twelve people and a dog. Let me tell you about Little Barton. It's a village in Suffolk, which is a county in the east of England. It's flat. Really, really flat. If you stand on a chair, you can see for about twenty miles in every direction. The nearest town is Bury St Edmunds, which is famous for having a very old abbey and a very good chippy. (Those are equally important here.) I live with my mum, my stepdad Phil, my little brother Freddie (who is four and has no volume control), and a dog called Beans. Beans is a Labrador who believes he is a much smaller dog and regularly tries to sit on people's laps. He is not good at this. School is fine. I like English and art. I do NOT like PE, especially when it's raining, which in England is roughly always. My favourite teacher is Mr. Okoro, who teaches history and once accidentally set fire to a paper Viking longboat during a demonstration. It was the best lesson we've ever had. After school, I usually read, draw, or help Mum in the garden. She's growing vegetables this year. The tomatoes are doing well. The courgettes are out of control. We now have more courgettes than any family could reasonably eat, and I suspect Mum has been secretly leaving them on neighbours' doorsteps under cover of darkness. I have SO many questions for you. What's your school like? Do you really eat sushi for lunch? (I would LOVE that.) What's the best thing about living in Tokyo? Write back soon! Your pen pal, Sam P.S. I've enclosed a photo of Beans. He sat still for about half a second, so it's slightly blurry, but you get the idea.

Hover or tap the highlighted phrases to see the technique and explanation

Techniques Used in This Answer

Humour (x3)

Parallel Structure

Anecdote

Voice

Ready to Write?

Practice this prompt under timed conditions, just like the real exam. You have 25 minutes.

Planning Templates

Suitable for letter writing

Diary / Letter Writing Frame

A structure for diary entries and letters. Focuses on voice, format, and personal reflection.

4 steps|2-3 minutes

Marking Focus Areas

voice

vocabulary

imagination

More Letter Writing Prompts

Continue practising with similar prompts

Letter Writing

intermediate

Letter to the Head Teacher

“Write a letter to your head teacher suggesting one improvement that would make your school a better place. Be polite but persuasive.”

25 min