You use trains to reach the office but the timetable of the train has been changed recently. Also, the train you take to work no longer stops at your station. Write a letter to the railway authority about it. In your letter: - introduce yourself - what problems have been created due to the changes - what you would suggest them to do
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam, I am a resident of the Seven Hills area and I regularly use your trains to commute to and from my office. The recent change to the train schedule is causing great suffering for many commuters like me and I am hoping you would consider a revision of the timetable. I work for an IT company in Denver and several other office goers have the same schedule that I follow to reach the workplace. I used to take one of your trains at 7:40 AM from Seven Hills Station and usually reached my destination around 8:30 in the morning. The Denver Station, where the train used to drop me off, is only five minutes walk from my office. However, under the revised timetable, your train no longer stops at my station at 7:40 AM and I am forced to take a train from the Curberry Station at 8:30 am which is almost a mile away from my residence. This revised timetable and schedule are inconvenient for us. A train takes passengers from our station, but only at 6.30 in the morning and this is too early for us to get on the train. I have also checked with fellow passengers who are also struggling to get to work on time. I request you revise the train timing again and reinstate 7:40 AM's train to stop at our station, which will enable me or fellow passengers to travel to work on time. Thank you for giving the matter your attention and I hope to hear your reply soon. Yours faithfully Ravi Babu
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use proportionate wording Original: great suffering Suggested revision: considerable inconvenience Why it matters: 'Suffering' is too extreme for the travel disruption described.
- 2. Use formal phrasing Original: commuters like me Suggested revision: commuters, including me Why it matters: This is more precise and formal in a letter to an authority.
- 3. Remove article Original: The Denver Station Suggested revision: Denver Station Why it matters: A named station does not take 'the' in this construction.
- 4. Fix compound modifier Original: five minutes walk Suggested revision: a five-minute walk Why it matters: The distance expression needs an article and a hyphenated singular modifier.
- 5. Remove article Original: from the Curberry Station Suggested revision: from Curberry Station Why it matters: The definite article is unnecessary before the station's proper name.
- 6. Set off relative clause Original: 8:30 am which Suggested revision: 8:30 AM, which Why it matters: The non-defining relative clause requires a comma, and the time style should remain consistent.
- 7. Use concise distance Original: almost a mile away from my residence Suggested revision: nearly a mile from my home Why it matters: This is more natural and concise without changing the stated distance.
- 8. Remove repetition Original: revised timetable and schedule Suggested revision: revised timetable Why it matters: 'Timetable' and 'schedule' express the same idea here.
- 9. State impact clearly Original: inconvenient for us Suggested revision: causes us significant inconvenience Why it matters: The revision states the effect more directly and formally.
- 10. Use service verb Original: A train takes passengers Suggested revision: A train departs Why it matters: 'Departs' accurately describes a scheduled train leaving the station.
- 11. Standardise time format Original: 6.30 in the morning Suggested revision: 6:30 AM Why it matters: This matches the time format used elsewhere in the letter.
- 12. Remove repeated link Original: also checked with fellow passengers who are also Suggested revision: checked with fellow passengers who are Why it matters: Repeating 'also' in the same clause is unnecessary.
Suggested Rewrites
- great suffering considerable inconvenience
- commuters like me commuters, including me
- The Denver Station Denver Station
- five minutes walk a five-minute walk
- from the Curberry Station from Curberry Station
- 8:30 am which 8:30 AM, which
Why this response received Band 7.5
The letter fully addresses the situation with specific journey details, a clear explanation of the inconvenience, and a practical request, all in an appropriate formal tone. Its main limitation is occasional awkward or imprecise phrasing, compounded by presenting the whole response as one dense block. The highest-priority improvement is to divide the message into purposeful paragraphs and refine expressions describing the revised service.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The response fully covers the writer's identity, the problems caused by the changes, and a specific solution in a consistently appropriate formal register.
Make the practical effect even sharper by stating explicitly whether the later train causes lateness at work.
Coherence and Cohesion
The sequence from background to old and new arrangements and then the proposed remedy is clear, although the single dense paragraph weakens presentation.
Separate the introduction, consequences, and requested timetable change into distinct paragraphs.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is varied and well suited to a formal transport complaint, but several combinations, including 'great suffering' and 'reinstate 7:40 AM's train,' sound unnatural.
Use more precise collocations such as 'considerable inconvenience' and 'reinstate the 7:40 service'.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The writer uses varied complex structures with good control, despite a few errors in possessives, agreement, and the construction of the final request.
Correct forms such as 'a five-minute walk' and recast the request as 'reinstate the 7:40 service at our station'.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You use trains to reach the office but the timetable of the train has been changed recently. Also, the train you take to work no longer stops at your station. Write a letter to the railway authority about it. In your letter:
- introduce yourself
- what problems have been created due to the changes
- what you would suggest them to do
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.