You recently bought some train tickets for a journey a week in advance. When you went to the station to catch the train, you were told you could not use the tickets and the staff were very unhelpful to you. Write a letter to the train company. In your letter: - Describe the problem you had with the tickets. - Say why you were unhappy with the staff? - Suggest what action the train company should take.
Sample Response
I, Manoj, am writing to address an incident I experienced during a recent journey with your train company.
Before my scheduled journey, I purchased train tickets online for the journeyfor my travel. However, upon arriving at the station on the day of departure, your staff informed me that the tickets I had were not valid. I was deeply disappointed by the lack of assistance fromby your staff. Despite my efforts to seek clarification and resolve the issue, they were unresponsive and provided no satisfactory explanation.
Given this situation, I would like to recommend that the train company taketakes immediate action to address both problemsaddress these issues. Firstly, there is a need for improved communication and coordination between the online booking system and station staff to ensure the accuracy and validity of tickets. Additionally, I suggest providing comprehensive training for your staffcomprehensive support to your staff to equip them with the necessary skills and knowledge to handle customer queries and complaints effectively.
I trust that you will take this matter seriously and implement the necessary measures to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.
Sincerely,
Manoj
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter maintains a clear, suitably formal complaint and proposes practical remedies, with strong control of organization and language throughout. Its main limitation is that the ticket problem itself is only briefly described: it does not mention the advance purchase or explain any apparent reason for rejection. The priority is to develop that incident with specific facts while keeping the concise professional tone.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The communicative purpose, dissatisfaction with the staff, and requested actions are clear, though the ticket problem lacks specific detail.
Mention the advance purchase and explain exactly what happened when the tickets were rejected.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response progresses logically from the complaint through its consequences to practical recommendations, with clear functional paragraphs.
Link each proposed remedy more explicitly to the specific failure described earlier in the letter.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is varied and generally precise, although a few collocations such as 'lack of assistance by your staff' sound awkward.
Use more natural complaint-language combinations, such as 'lack of assistance from your staff' and 'provide staff training.'
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A range of simple and complex structures is handled accurately, with only isolated non-impeding errors.
Review verb form choices after reporting verbs, using constructions such as 'recommend that the company take action.'
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You recently bought some train tickets for a journey a week in advance. When you went to the station to catch the train, you were told you could not use the tickets and the staff were very unhelpful to you. Write a letter to the train company. In your letter:
- Describe the problem you had with the tickets.
- Say why you were unhappy with the staff?
- Suggest what action the train company should take.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.