You missed a flight due to a problem at the airport. Write a letter to the airline. In your letter: - describe what happened that caused you to miss the flight - explain how missing your flight affected you make it clear - what you would like the airline to do
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam, I am writing to inform you that I could not board the flightget on the flight from Dublin to Tokyo on 21st March because of a problem during airport security checksdue to mismanagement at the airport. I would like you to resolverectify the issue and rebook me on a flight departing on 24th Marcharrange my next flight for 24th March. I booked my flight with your airline two weeks ago and was scheduled to fly to Tokyo from Dublin Airportairport at 2100 hours on 21st March 2025. I reached the airport three hours before my scheduled departurethree hours prior to my schedule and checked in my luggage. When I was ready to boardtake my flight, an airport security officerpersonnel approached me and asked me to follow him to the security room for interrogation. I was quite baffled by the sudden questioninginquest and tried to be as helpful as possible. However, the damage had already been donethe damage has already been made. I missed my flight beforewhen I was cleared and as a resultdue to this, I could not attend an important meeting at our Tokyo office. I notified my employer immediately and they asked me to take the next flight, which was not available until 24th March. I would like you to investigate how this incident was handledrectify this unexpected investigation within your jurisdiction and rebook me on a flight departing on 24th Marchbook my flight on 24th March at no additional cost to mewithout imposing any new ticket price on me. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Yours faithfully, Evan Piera
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter clearly explains the security delay, its effect on an important meeting, and the requested rebooking, while maintaining an appropriately formal tone. Its main weakness is imprecise wording around responsibility and remedy: an airline cannot necessarily rectify an airport-security investigation, and several collocations sound unnatural. Prioritise requesting a fee-free replacement booking and reimbursement clearly, then separate the incident, consequences and requested action into distinct paragraphs.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The purpose is clear and all three bullet points receive specific, relevant development in a consistently formal register.
Frame the remedy within the airline's control by requesting a fee-free rebooking and any appropriate compensation rather than asking it to rectify the security investigation.
Coherence and Cohesion
The incident, consequence and request progress logically, but the single-paragraph format and repetition of the date and verb "rectify" reduce cohesion.
Create separate paragraphs for the flight details, the disruption and the requested resolution, stating the preferred new date once.
Lexical Resource
There is sufficient range for a formal complaint, but expressions such as "sudden inquest," "damage has already been made" and "new ticket price" are imprecise.
Use standard complaint-letter collocations such as "security questioning," "the delay caused me to miss" and "without an additional fare."
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Complex sentences are generally controlled and meaning remains clear, with occasional errors in tense, articles and noun agreement.
Correct forms such as "a security officer," "the damage had already been done" and "after I was cleared," while keeping the narrative consistently in the past.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You missed a flight due to a problem at the airport. Write a letter to the airline. In your letter:
- describe what happened that caused you to miss the flight
- explain how missing your flight affected you make it clear
- what you would like the airline to do
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.