You have arranged a meeting with a business partner. Unfortunately, you have to change the arrangement. Write a letter to your business partner. In your letter: - apologise for the changes - explain the reason - why the changes were needed - explain the new arrangement
Sample Response
Dear Martin,
I hope this letter finds you wellin good health and spirit. I am writing to apologisethis letter to offer you a formal apology because I need to postponesince I will have to postpone the upcoming business meeting between us which is set for 14 Marchwhich is set for 14th of March. I know that the news of this postponement of the meetingmeeting deferment may inconvenience youwould probably upset you a little but once I explain the situation to you, you will understand whyyou would understand as to why I need exactlyI exactly need to postpone itthis important business meeting.
On 1414th March, when we were due to meetthe day when we were supposed to have the meeting, my nephewmy young nephew is going to play for his high school team for the first time in an inter-district soccer tournament match, and I have been asked by my nephewmy beloved nephew to watch the game at the stadiumlive from the stadium. I alsoBesides, I also did not want to miss the special moment since I taught him originallyit was I who initially taught him how to play soccer.
ThereforeSo, now that you know the reason behind the postponement of the meeting, could we pleasecould we please perhaps hold the meeting on 15 March at the same time and placehold the meeting a day later on the 15th of March so that I can attend this important family eventso that I could enjoy some special family time with my nephew?
I hope to meet you soon. Yours truly,
Milan
Why this response received Band 6.5
The letter clearly apologises, explains the family reason, and proposes a new date in a generally understandable, paragraph-organised response. Its main limitation is that the rearrangement is incomplete for a business partner, with no time, venue, flexibility, or acknowledgement of the practical impact, while some wording is overly personal or unnatural. Prioritise a concise business-focused explanation followed by a complete alternative arrangement and carefully edited sentence structure.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The letter addresses all four bullets: it apologises, gives a reason, explains why the change is needed, and proposes 15 March. Task achievement is limited because the business impact is not considered and the new arrangement lacks time, place, and flexibility.
Keep the apology and reason, but add a concise business-focused explanation and a complete alternative arrangement with date, time, venue, and an option for Martin to suggest another time.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response is organised into clear paragraphs, but cohesion is weakened by long sentences, repeated references to the meeting, and informal transitions in the final request.
Shorten the opening explanation, replace repeated noun phrases with pronouns, and move smoothly from apology to reason to the new arrangement.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is mostly sufficient for the message, but several expressions are unnatural, overly formal, or too personal for a business partner, including meeting deferment and beloved nephew.
Use natural business-letter vocabulary such as reschedule, inconvenience, attend a family event, and meet at the same time and place.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Grammar is generally understandable, but there are repeated problems with date forms, modal choices, word order, and overlong sentence control.
Edit the longer sentences for correct word order and tense, especially around the apology and the explanation of the reason.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You have arranged a meeting with a business partner. Unfortunately, you have to change the arrangement. Write a letter to your business partner. In your letter:
- apologise for the changes
- explain the reason
- why the changes were needed
- explain the new arrangement
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.