Letter complaining about a cancelled flight
This is a sample answer written to show what a Band 6.5 response looks like, and where it falls short of Band 7. It is a worked example, not a graded submission. To see your own band, paste your writing into the free checker.
The prompt
A flight you had booked was cancelled at short notice, causing you serious inconvenience. Write a letter to the airline. In your letter:
- give details of the flight you had booked
- explain how the cancellation affected you
- say what you expect the airline to do
Band 6.5 sample answer (164 words)
Dear Sir or Madam,
I am writing to complain about a flight which was cancelled. I had booked a flight with your airline from London to Rome on 5 May, flight number BA123, and it was scheduled for 9 in the morning.
The problem is that the flight was cancelled only two hours before, so I did not have enough time to make other plans. Because of this, I missed an important business meeting in Rome and I lost a lot of money. Also, I had to wait at the airport for many hours, and nobody from your staff helped me or gave me any information.
I am very unhappy about this situation. Firstly, I would like to receive a full refund for my ticket. Secondly, I think the airline should pay for the extra costs that I had, for example the hotel and the food at the airport. I hope you can solve this problem quickly.
I look forward to receiving your reply as soon as possible.
Yours faithfully,
Thomas Weber
Why this reaches Band 6.5
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Task Achievement
All three bullet points are addressed: the flight details, how the cancellation affected the writer, and what the airline should do. The coverage is complete, but the details are stated plainly rather than developed, which keeps it at Band 6.5.
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Coherence and Cohesion
The letter is ordered logically, but the linking is mechanical ("Firstly", "Secondly", "Also"), and points are added one after another rather than connected.
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Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is adequate and the formal register mostly holds, but it is repetitive ("flight" and "cancelled" recur) and rarely precise, with little of the varied phrasing a Band 7 letter would show.
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Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Sentences are mostly simple and meaning is always clear, but there is little variety, and there are minor slips such as "cancelled only two hours before" that do not impede understanding.
The one fix to reach Band 7
This letter reaches Band 6.5 because it lists its points with mechanical linkers and repeats basic words. The single most effective change to reach Band 7 is to develop each bullet with more precise, varied language, for example explaining the inconvenience of the cancellation rather than simply stating that money was lost.
Now check your own answer.
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