The phrase "an appalling rate" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to describe a rate that is shockingly bad or unacceptable, often in contexts related to statistics or performance.
Example: "The company reported an appalling rate of employee turnover this year, raising concerns about workplace culture."
Alternatives: "a shocking rate" or "a disturbing rate".
Infants and very young children were dying at an appalling rate after cardiac surgery at the Bristol Royal Infirmary, and it was clear from the inside that this was the work of two doctors: James Wisheart Timm Pigott-Smith) and Janarda Dhasmana (Madhav Sharma).
Save the Children's Chief Executive Justin Forsyth said: "It is shocking that in conflict zones around the world children are being raped and abused at such an appalling rate.
"The number of people sleeping on our streets continues to rise at an appalling rate," says Matt Downie, Head Of Policy and External Affairs at the UK homeless charity Crisis.
As San Francisco's District Attorney, I see the direct impact of what happens when kids don't stay in school; young lives are lost to street violence or prison at an appalling rate, our state loses more resources and our communities are less safe.
"There doesn't have to be such an appalling conviction rate.
Egypt has an appalling death rate, and the less time you spend on the roads the better.
It was a disease with an appalling mortality rate, estimated at 70% by the WHO last October.
Despite an appalling death rate on the battlefield, of roughly ten thousand fighters a year, thousands more kept coming.
Meanwhile, for the past six months Saudi Arabian warplanes have conducted regular airstrikes against the Houthi armed group in Yemen where there has been an appalling casualty rate amongst civilians.
But one contender, Newark, a city with an appalling crime rate and poor schools and public transportation, has reportedly offered $7bn – which would be the largest deal to date.
Language learning has an appalling abandonment rate.
