IELTS General Writing Task 1 – Reporting a Found Document
Model Answer (Band 8–8.5)
Dear Sir or Madam,
I am writing to report an important document that I found on one of your trains yesterday afternoon. I would be grateful if you could help ensure that it is returned to its owner.
The document is a passport belonging to a man named Andrew Collins. It has a dark blue cover and was inside a clear plastic wallet together with two train tickets. I found it at approximately 4:30 p.m. underneath a seat in the third carriage of the 15:50 service from Oxford to London Paddington.
Because a passport is an important form of identification, I was concerned that leaving it unattended might result in it being lost permanently. I therefore took it with me and have kept it in a safe place since then.
Please let me know whether I should hand the passport in at my nearest station or deliver it directly to your lost-property office. I am happy to provide any further information that may help you identify the owner.
Thank you for your assistance. I look forward to your instructions.
Yours faithfully,
James Whitmore
Analytical Review – Strengths, Weaknesses & Improvements
- Consistently formal tone appropriate for communication with a transport authority.
- The purpose of the letter is made clear immediately in the opening paragraph.
- The document is described with specific identifying details, including its type, colour, owner’s name, and accompanying items.
- Precise information about the train, time, carriage, and location makes the report practical and credible.
- Strong expressions such as “important form of identification,” “kept it in a safe place,” and “lost-property office.”
- Including too many personal details from the passport would be unnecessary and could reduce concision.
- The writer must avoid speculation about how the passport was lost or who may have left it behind.
- State exactly when and where the item was found.
- Describe only the identifying features that are genuinely useful to the transport authority.
- Clearly ask what should be done with the document next.
- give back → return to its owner
- identity document → form of identification
- left alone → left unattended
- keep safely → keep in a safe place
- give to the station → hand in at the station
- lost items department → lost-property office
- Use exact factual details rather than vague descriptions.
- Use formal indirect requests such as “I would be grateful if…” and “Please let me know whether…”.
- Use complex structures naturally, including relative clauses and conditional meanings.
- Maintain clear progression: purpose → description → circumstances → action requested.
- Use “Yours faithfully” when the recipient’s name is unknown.