IELTS Apology Letter for General Training

IELTS General Training Writing test is for 60 minutes and consists of 2 tasks. Task 1 of the IELTS General Writing exam is letter writing, and task 2 is essay writing. It is suggested that you spend 20 minutes on writing task 1 as you are expected to write only 150 words, and  40 minutes on writing task 2 in which you are expected to write over 250 words. 

Task 1 in the IELTS General exam is always letter writing. So in this post, we will focus on letter writing.

Types of letters asked in the exam:

• Formal (Written to someone whom you don’t know)
• Semi-Formal (Written to someone whom you only know professionally)
• Informal (Written to someone whom you know personally)

What is an Apology Letter?

An apology letter is written to someone to let them know that you are sorry for something. You may have offended, hurt, injured someone or damaged something, and you want to apologize for the same.

How to Write an Apology Letter:

1. State how sorry you are for your actions.
2. Explain the reason and take responsibility for your actions.
3. Provide information on how you can cover up for the mistake. 

Informal Letter

A foreign friend of yours plans to visit your place and stay with you, but you do not have time on that date. Give your friend another alternate date to come.

In your letter, you should:

• apology for it
• explain what you will busy for on that date
• suggest to him/her an alternate time to come.

Sample Answer:

Dear Sansa,

I hope this letter finds you in good health. I am happy to know that you have plans to visit my place and how excited you are to stay with me from 04/05/2021 to 21/05/2021. But I’m sorry to inform you that I will not be able to be with you on the given dates, as I have to travel to Kolkata for some work. 

I hope you believe me when I say how sorry and guilty I feel about it. I will be busy during the entire month, but I have an amazing idea. You can plan your stay after 01/06/2021, and we would invite some more friends and spend time together, and I will take you on a short city tour as well. I hope this alternative idea sounds good to you and you forgive me for the inconvenience. 

I am looking forward to hearing from you.

Warm Wishes

Kirti 

Semi-Formal Letter

You missed an important meeting at work. Write a letter to your manager. 

In this letter

•  Apologise for not attending 
• Explain why you did not attend
• Say what you will do to make up for it. 

Sample Answer:

Dear Ms Rose,

I am writing to sincerely apologise for not attending the financial year-end meeting yesterday morning. I know such meetings are important, especially when we allocate funds to different departments of the company. Unfortunately, my child’s poor health stopped me from attending the meeting. 

My child was suffering from a high fever, and I was required to take him to the hospital. Since nobody in my family knows how to drive, it left me with no option but to drop the meeting. I have followed up to make sure that I have all the information that was discussed yesterday. Sussi is going to provide me with all the necessary paperwork, and I will update you about the details required from my side by the end of this day. Once again, I sincerely apologise for not being able to attend the meeting and hope you understand my circumstances that led to my absence. 

Yours Faithfully

Philip Den

Formal Letter

You have been invited to attend an interview for a place studying a course at a college. Unfortunately, because of a previous appointment, you cannot come at the time they wish.

Write a letter to the admission tutor. In your letter,

• explain your position
• apologise and offer to come on another day or later the same day
• also, ask how long the interview will be, and whether there will be any tests during it

Sample Answer:

Dear Sir/Ma’am

I am Kathreena Joseph. I was expected to join the public relations program in the upcoming semester at your university. I am writing this letter to apologize for not being able to attend the interview scheduled on 1st September’ 2021. Unfortunately, I am in a very perplexing situation. 

I work in an organization, and they have scheduled an urgent meeting on the same date. Since many colleagues are travelling from different cities for this meeting, it is not likely to get postponed. I understand the importance of this interview in order for you to finalise my candidature for admission. I hope you would allow me to alter the interview date from 1st September 2021 to 2nd September 2021. 

I sincerely apologise for the inconvenience, and I request you to accept my request and reschedule my interview date. Also, please let me know if I need to appear for any test as part of the interview process and how long the interview process might take. 

I am looking forward to hearing a positive response from you.

Yours Sincerely

Dinesh Sharma