IELTS Formal Letter: Letter to Bus Company Manager Regarding Lost Documents

The task

You have accidentally missed some important papers on a bus.

Write a letter to the manager of the Taxi company. In your letter:

→give the details of your journey
→explain why those papers are important for you
→suggest what the manager can do

Write at least 150 words. You do not need to write any addresses. Begin your letter: Dear Sir/Madam,

Model answer

Band 8 sample letter

Band 8200 words. Names and details are invented; write your own.

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to report the loss of a folder containing significant personal documents that I inadvertently left on one of your buses earlier today. I was travelling on the number 42 route towards the city centre, boarding at High Street at approximately 8:15 a.m. and disembarking at Central Station at 8:45 a.m. I believe the items slid off the seat as I stood up to exit the vehicle.

These papers are of critical importance as they include my original birth certificate and a signed contract for a new employment opportunity. I am scheduled to present these documents to my new employer tomorrow morning to finalise my hiring process, and their absence puts my start date in serious jeopardy.

Could you please check the lost property records for the driver of the 8:15 a.m. service? If the folder has been recovered, I would appreciate it if you could inform me immediately so that I may collect it from your depot. If it has not yet been handed in, please notify the relevant driver to keep an eye out for it during their next shift.

I look forward to your prompt assistance regarding this matter.

Yours faithfully,

Jonathan Miller

Write your own and get a band

Answer this prompt in a timed General Training writing test and get a band for task achievement, coherence, vocabulary and grammar, with the sentences to fix.

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Examiner's view

Why this scores well

A Band 8 response covers all three bullet points with specific, logical details while maintaining a consistently formal tone. The most common mistake at Band 6 is failing to provide specific journey details, such as route numbers or times, which makes it impossible for the company to assist.

→Write to an organisation or someone you do not know: open with Dear Sir or Madam, close with Yours faithfully.
→If you know the person's surname, use Dear Mr or Ms and close with Yours sincerely.
→No contractions, no slang; polite indirect requests such as I would be grateful if you could.

6 phrases

Useful phrases from the letter

inadvertently
without intention or by accident
disembarking
leaving a vehicle after a journey
critical importance
extremely significant and necessary
jeopardy
a situation of danger or risk of loss
prompt assistance
quick help provided without delay
depot
a place where buses are stored and serviced

Frequently asked questions

Is this letter formal or informal?+

Formal. Write to an organisation or someone you do not know: open with Dear Sir or Madam, close with Yours faithfully.

How many words should an IELTS General Training letter be?+

At least 150 words, and 160 to 200 is the comfortable range. Spend about 20 minutes on it and leave 40 for Task 2, which carries twice the marks.

What does the examiner look for?+

Keep practising

More request letters

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