Last week you were on a flight to London. When you left the plane, you left a bag and did not remember it until you reached your hotel. Write a letter to the airline. In your letter: - explain what happened - describe the bag and its contents - say what you would like the airline to do
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam, I am writing in regards to a lost bag on a plane that I took to reach London from New York on 17th August. Unfortunately, I forgot my bag on the plane. When I reached the hotel, I realised I had left my bag. I am hoping you would help me recover it along with its content immediately. My flight number was VG-4587F and my seat number was D-54A. Onboard, I kept the bag under my seat as all the overhead bins were filled with bags and luggage. When I left the airport in London, I forget to take my bag with me. It is a black leather bag, medium in size and has two pockets in the front and one in the back. Also, it has a silver zip and keychain on it. My bag contains some important documents, a few dresses of mine and a small brown purse which had my ID card, driving licence, and some cash. The documents in the bag are really significant and I need to submit them to my office next week. So if you could help me find the bag, I would be really grateful. I can come and collect it from the airport promptly. Thank you for your kind attention and cooperation. Yours faithfully, Sonia Vincent
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use correct expression Original: in regards to Suggested revision: regarding Why it matters: Regarding is the concise standard expression; in regards to is nonstandard here.
- 2. State the loss directly Original: a lost bag on a plane that I took to reach London Suggested revision: a bag I left on my flight to London Why it matters: The replacement clearly identifies both the incident and the relevant flight.
- 3. Use left behind Original: forgot Suggested revision: left Why it matters: English normally uses left, not forgot, when an object remains in a place.
- 4. Use natural request Original: I am hoping you would help Suggested revision: I hope you can help Why it matters: Can matches the present request more naturally than would in this construction.
- 5. Use plural contents Original: content Suggested revision: contents Why it matters: Contents is the standard plural noun for the items inside a bag.
- 6. Avoid redundant wording Original: filled with bags and luggage Suggested revision: full Why it matters: Bags are luggage, so listing both is repetitive.
- 7. Use past tense Original: forget Suggested revision: forgot Why it matters: The incident happened in the past, so forget must be changed to forgot.
- 8. Use formal emphasis Original: really significant Suggested revision: very important Why it matters: Very important is clearer and more appropriate in a formal lost-property request.
- 9. Place also naturally Original: Also, it has Suggested revision: It also has Why it matters: Placing also after the subject creates a smoother link within the bag description.
- 10. Add the article Original: and keychain Suggested revision: and a keychain Why it matters: The singular countable noun keychain requires an article.
- 11. Use natural possession Original: a few dresses of mine Suggested revision: a few of my dresses Why it matters: This is the more natural way to express possession in the contents list.
- 12. Use concise description Original: purse which had Suggested revision: purse containing Why it matters: Containing links the purse to its contents concisely and avoids an unnecessary relative clause.
Suggested Rewrites
- in regards to regarding
- a lost bag on a plane that I took to reach London a bag I left on my flight to London
- forgot left
- I am hoping you would help I hope you can help
- content contents
- filled with bags and luggage full
Why this response received Band 7.5
The letter achieves its purpose very effectively by giving traceable flight details, a precise physical description, a useful inventory of contents and a clear request for recovery and collection. Its main limitation is local grammatical and lexical imprecision, particularly in regards to, its content and I forget; the priority is a final tense-and-collocation edit while preserving the concise, courteous formal tone.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
All three bullet points are fully and purposefully developed with flight details, distinguishing bag features, important contents and a practical collection request.
Refine the requested action by asking the airline to contact you after checking the aircraft and lost-property office.
Coherence and Cohesion
The information progresses logically from the incident to identification details, contents, urgency and the requested resolution, although it is presented as one block.
Use separate paragraphs for the incident, bag description and requested action to make the letter easier for airline staff to scan.
Lexical Resource
The vocabulary is precise enough to identify the bag and explain urgency, with only a few collocational slips such as in regards to and its content.
Use in regard to or regarding, its contents, and left the bag behind for more natural formal phrasing.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The letter uses varied structures with generally strong control, but a few tense and coordination errors remain, notably I forget in a past narrative.
Maintain past tense throughout the incident account and revise the description to it is medium-sized and has three pockets.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
Last week you were on a flight to London. When you left the plane, you left a bag and did not remember it until you reached your hotel. Write a letter to the airline. In your letter:
- explain what happened
- describe the bag and its contents
- say what you would like the airline to do
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.