Use the greeting, sign-off and paragraph plan below for this semi-formal letter, write it on a 20-minute timer, then compare it with a band-8 model letter.
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
You handed in a piece of coursework two days after the deadline.
Write a letter to your teacher, Mr Barker. In your letter
Write at least 150 words.
You do NOT need to write any addresses.
Begin your letter as follows:
Dear Mr Barker,
GoPrep wrote this practice question in the style of the exam. It is not an official IELTS question.
A letter to a named person ends Yours sincerely, followed by your full name.
Spend the first few minutes planning, then write.
0 words of 150 minimum
Your answer stays on this page only. Copy it before you leave.
Write your own answer first, then compare: how it answers the exact question, what each paragraph does, and which phrases you could borrow.
Dear Mr Barker,
I am writing to explain why I handed in my environmental science coursework two days after the deadline. I know that deadlines are important, and I am sorry for any inconvenience this has caused you.
The reason was that I had serious computer problems. On Tuesday evening, three days before the deadline, my laptop crashed, and I lost the file containing most of the report. I could not recover it, so I had to rewrite nearly half the work from my notes. I had not saved a copy elsewhere, which was a mistake.
At the same time, I was also working extra shifts at my part-time job, and this made it difficult for me to catch up in time. I should have contacted you straight away, rather than waiting until I had finished, and I regret that I did not.
I realise that I might lose marks for the delay, but I would be very grateful if my coursework could still be marked.
Yours sincerely,
Nadia Haddad
| Phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| I'd like to explain what happened. | open an explanation politely |
| The reason is that | introduce a cause |
| I hope that makes things clearer. | polite closing |
| I realise this may have caused some confusion. | acknowledge a misunderstanding |
| Please don't hesitate to ask if you need more details. | invite questions |
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