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 tense Original: owned Suggested revision: have Why it matters: The membership remains current until the stated cancellation date, so the present tense is needed.
- 2. Use natural collocation Original: received numerous advantages from it Suggested revision: have benefited greatly from it Why it matters: This phrasing expresses the benefit of membership more naturally.
- 3. Choose precise noun Original: association with such a wonderful club Suggested revision: membership of such a wonderful club Why it matters: Membership is more precise than association in this context.
- 4. Correct capitalization Original: Credit Suggested revision: credit Why it matters: Credit card is a common noun and should not be capitalized here.
- 5. Correct noun pattern Original: objective to join the club Suggested revision: objective in joining the club Why it matters: Objective takes in plus a gerund when describing the purpose behind an action.
- 6. Fix awkward reference Original: the excellent one Suggested revision: an excellent place Why it matters: One does not refer clearly or naturally to the club in this sentence.
- 7. Complete result phrase Original: to an extent that Suggested revision: to such an extent that Why it matters: The result construction requires such before an extent.
- 8. Make request polite Original: You can send me a confirmation letter of my membership cancellation Suggested revision: Please send confirmation of my membership cancellation Why it matters: A polite direct request is more appropriate when writing formally to the club secretary.
- 9. Use concise wording Original: discontinue my membership with Suggested revision: cancel my membership of Why it matters: This is a more direct and natural way to state the purpose of the letter.
- 10. State date concisely Original: effective from 1st September 2025 Suggested revision: effective 1 September 2025 Why it matters: The concise date phrase makes the requested cancellation date easier to identify.
- 11. Make request direct Original: seeking your cooperation to cancel my membership Suggested revision: requesting that you cancel my membership Why it matters: The revision expresses the requested action more directly and naturally.
- 12. Use suitable praise Original: astounding Suggested revision: excellent Why it matters: Excellent is a more natural and appropriately measured adjective in this formal letter.
Suggested Rewrites
- owned have
- received numerous advantages from it have benefited greatly from it
- association with such a wonderful club membership of such a wonderful club
- Credit credit
- objective to join the club objective in joining the club
- the excellent one an excellent place
Why this response received Band 7.5
The letter communicates its cancellation request clearly, covers each required point with specific supporting detail, and maintains an appropriately courteous tone. Its main weakness is a cluster of unnatural collocations and a date history that conflicts with the stated one-year membership context. The highest priority is to use more natural formal phrasing and ensure all background details remain consistent with the task.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The purpose is clear, all three bullet points are fully addressed, and the benefits and reason for leaving are well developed in an appropriate formal tone.
Keep contextual details consistent with the prompt, especially the membership duration implied by the joining and cancellation dates.
Coherence and Cohesion
The information follows a logical sequence from membership details through benefits to the reason for cancellation, with clear linking throughout.
Separate the main topics into distinct paragraphs and reduce repeated transitions such as unfortunately to make progression more polished.
Lexical Resource
The letter uses a good range of relevant vocabulary, although phrases such as owned a basic membership and the excellent one sound unnatural.
Prioritise precise, idiomatic collocations such as held a basic membership and was an excellent choice.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A varied range of complex sentences is generally controlled well, with only occasional awkward constructions that do not impede meaning.
Refine article choice, verb forms, and clause phrasing in sentences such as the description of choosing the 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.