For the past year, you have been a member of a local club. Now you want to discontinue your membership. Write a letter to the club secretary. In your letter: - state what type of membership you have and how you have paid for this - give details on how you have benefited from the club - explain why you want to leave
Sample Response
Dear Mr Anderson, I am writing to inform you that I have decided to discontinue my membership with the 'In-Shape Fitness and Sports Club' effective from 1st September 2025. I owned a basic membership and received numerous advantages from it. Now I am seeking your cooperation to cancel my membership. I joined your club on 2nd July 2022 as a basic member and thoroughly enjoyed my association with such a wonderful club with astounding instructors who are highly skilled and friendly. I have always paid my monthly fee using my Visa Credit card issued by NIFC Bank. My primary objective to join the club was to improve my tennis skills. I have always enjoyed watching tennis competitions and wanted to play this sport. But I wanted to learn from an expert and your club was the excellent one to fulfil my dream. On top of that, your staff members were very welcoming and the instructors have improved my skills to an extent that I won the intercity tournament held in January 2023. I think it would not have been possible if I had not joined the club. Unfortunately, my company has recently asked me to relocate to a different city. Even though I would have loved to come to the club, I, unfortunately, cannot do it due to the distance. You can send me a confirmation letter of my membership cancellation to [email address]. All my payments are up to date and I will pay my membership fee up to August 2025. Yours sincerely, John White
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use present possession Original: owned Suggested revision: have Why it matters: The membership is still active until cancellation, so present tense is required.
- 2. Use membership benefits Original: numerous advantages Suggested revision: many benefits Why it matters: Benefits is the natural term for advantages gained from a club membership.
- 3. Make the request direct Original: seeking your cooperation to cancel Suggested revision: asking you to cancel Why it matters: The revised wording states the requested action clearly and naturally.
- 4. Use membership wording Original: association with such a wonderful club Suggested revision: membership of such a wonderful club Why it matters: Membership names the relationship with the club more precisely than association.
- 5. Use measured praise Original: astounding Suggested revision: excellent Why it matters: Excellent conveys strong praise in a natural, professional register.
- 6. Correct capitalisation Original: Credit Suggested revision: credit Why it matters: Credit card is a common noun and should not be capitalised.
- 7. Use in joining Original: primary objective to join Suggested revision: primary objective in joining Why it matters: Objective takes in plus a gerund when describing the purpose of an action.
- 8. Use formal addition Original: On top of that Suggested revision: In addition Why it matters: The revised connector is more suitable for a letter to a club secretary.
- 9. Avoid redundant noun Original: staff members Suggested revision: staff Why it matters: Staff already refers collectively to the club's employees.
- 10. Clarify instructor support Original: the instructors have improved my skills Suggested revision: the instructors have helped me improve my skills Why it matters: The revised causative structure accurately expresses assistance with the writer's improvement.
- 11. Add definite article Original: an Suggested revision: the Why it matters: The fixed expression requires the definite article the.
- 12. Make a polite request Original: You can send me Suggested revision: Please send me Why it matters: Please makes the requested cancellation confirmation appropriately courteous.
Suggested Rewrites
- owned have
- numerous advantages many benefits
- seeking your cooperation to cancel asking you to cancel
- association with such a wonderful club membership of such a wonderful club
- astounding excellent
- Credit credit
Why this response received Band 7.5
The letter achieves its purpose very effectively, covering the membership, payment method, benefits, and reason for leaving with specific, convincing detail and an appropriately formal tone. Its main limitations are a dense, unbroken body and several awkward expressions that weaken an otherwise fluent presentation. The highest-priority improvement is to organise the body by function and replace non-idiomatic combinations with more natural professional phrasing.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The purpose is immediately clear, all three bullet points are fully developed, and the formal register suits the club secretary.
Refine the opening by stating the cancellation once and using the saved space for any practical membership detail.
Coherence and Cohesion
Information progresses logically from membership details through benefits to the reason for leaving, with effective linking throughout.
Divide the body into separate paragraphs for membership and payment, benefits, and the cancellation reason to make the structure easier to scan.
Lexical Resource
A broad vocabulary communicates the experience precisely, although combinations such as owning a membership and the excellent one are not fully natural.
Use more idiomatic collocations, such as held a basic membership and the ideal club, while retaining the existing range.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A varied mix of simple and complex structures is generally accurate, with only occasional article and preposition problems.
Improve control of noun patterns and articles in phrases such as objective in joining and an excellent club.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
For the past year, you have been a member of a local club. Now you want to discontinue your membership. Write a letter to the club secretary. In your letter:
- state what type of membership you have and how you have paid for this
- give details on how you have benefited from the club
- explain why you want to leave
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.