You are a university student in the UK and have recently lost your university ID card. Write to the local police station. In your letter: - give details of who you are - explain what happened - ask the police to record your details so that you can apply for a new ID card
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam, I am writing this letter to report a lost identification cardreport on a lost identification card which was issued by my university. My name is Paul Jeremy, and I am a final-year postgraduate studentfinal year post-graduate student at the University of Manchester, majoring in Finance. As soon as I became aware that I do not have my student ID with me this morning, I immediately informed the university authority about it. In response,But, in response, they asked me to report the incident to the local police. Of course, the local police authority would need to record some specific information about what I did yesterday or which places I visited, so I will go ahead and do just that. Yesterday,To begin with, yesterday, after finishing my classes, I went to Victoria Park for a while. After that, I went to the Curry Mile for a mealin order to eat some food before going back to my home on Denmark Road. For referenceBy the way, my ID card number is BK – 4982372 and it has my picture on it. So, based on these details above, please provide me with some necessary documents at your earliest convenience so that I can apply for a replacement student IDanother student ID. Yours faithfully, Paul Jeremy
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter communicates its purpose clearly, identifies the writer in detail, and provides a coherent account of the places visited before requesting documentation for a replacement card. Its main limitation is that it never states clearly where or when the card was probably lost, and the final request only indirectly asks the police to record the incident. Prioritise a more explicit account of the loss and the precise action required from the police.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
All three bullet points are addressed and the formal purpose is clear, but the circumstances of the actual loss and the request to record it remain somewhat indirect.
State when and where the card was last seen, then explicitly ask the police to record the loss and issue the required report.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response follows a logical sequence from identification and reporting to the previous day's movements and the requested outcome, with clear progression overall.
Use distinct paragraphs for personal details, the account of the loss, and the request instead of presenting the entire letter as one block.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is varied and appropriate for a formal report, although some expressions such as 'report on a lost identification card' and 'some necessary documents' lack precision.
Choose exact collocations such as 'report a lost ID card' and 'obtain a police report' to make the request more precise.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The letter demonstrates a good range of sentence forms with generally accurate control, though tense consistency and a few constructions are awkward.
Maintain consistent past-time reference, for example 'became aware that I did not have my student ID with me'.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You are a university student in the UK and have recently lost your university ID card. Write to the local police station. In your letter:
- give details of who you are
- explain what happened
- ask the police to record your details so that you can apply for a new ID card
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.