IELTS Formal Letter: Letter to College Principal Requesting Replacement Certificate

The task

Your company has sent you for a course abroad, and you got a certificate there, but you somehow lost it.

Write a letter to the college principal to send the certificate to you. In your letter:

→describe how you lost it
→explain why you need it now
→what do you want the principal to do

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

Model answer

Band 8 sample letter

Band 8188 words. Names and details are invented; write your own.

Dear Dr. Aris,

I am writing to formally request a replacement for the certificate I was awarded upon completing the 'Advanced Project Management' course at your institution last month.

Regrettably, I misplaced the original document during my return journey to London. While transferring flights at the international terminal, my briefcase was temporarily misplaced, and although I successfully recovered the bag, the folder containing my certification was missing. Despite contacting the airline's lost property department, it appears the document has been permanently lost.

I require this certificate urgently as my company’s human resources department has requested proof of completion to finalise my promotion. Without this official documentation, my professional advancement within the firm is currently on hold, which is causing significant concern regarding my career progression.

Could you please arrange for a duplicate certificate to be issued and sent to my residential address? I am happy to cover any administrative fees associated with this request and can provide my student identification number or any other verification details you require.

Thank you for your assistance with this matter. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours sincerely,

Jonathan Sterling

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 maintains a professional, consistent tone throughout while addressing all three bullet points with logical, specific detail. A common mistake for Band 6 candidates is failing to provide a credible reason for why the certificate is needed now, often resulting in an underdeveloped or overly brief explanation.

→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

regrettably
used to express that something is sad or unfortunate
misplaced
to lose something by putting it somewhere else
advancement
the process of promoting a person's career or status
duplicate
an exact copy of an original document or object
administrative fees
costs charged for processing or handling a formal request
finalise
to complete the last parts of a plan or process

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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