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 Garner, I would like to express my gratitude to the local yoga club which you designate as a secretary. I immensely enjoyed my association with the club and the benefits I had received from being a full-time member for a year is immeasurable. However, due to my transfer to a new office, which is in a different city, I want to cancel my membership. Not to mention, when I first enrolled at the club as an amateur with no knowledge of Yoga, I was fascinated by the talented and friendly instructors. I had paid Rs 2000 as a monthly fee for the first few months at the club's front desk. Then I subscribed to the full-time silver member and paid Rs 3500 per month in cash. I now possess good health, not to mention the changes in my attitude and personality, thanks to the club and the people behind it. With regret, I would like to inform you that I have been transferred to Mumbai and I can no longer continue my association with the club. Please accept this letter as a formal notification for the cancellation of my membership. Once again I thank you and the people behind this fabulous club.
Yours sincerely, Prasadarao Talluri
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use natural intensifier Original: immensely Suggested revision: greatly Why it matters: Greatly is the natural adverb with enjoyed in this formal context.
- 2. Use simple past Original: benefits I had received Suggested revision: benefits I received Why it matters: Simple past is sufficient because no later past reference requires the past perfect.
- 3. Match plural subject Original: is Suggested revision: are Why it matters: The plural subject benefits requires the plural verb are.
- 4. State reason concisely Original: due to my transfer to a new office, which is in a different city Suggested revision: due to my transfer to an office in another city Why it matters: The revision removes an unnecessary relative clause while preserving the reason.
- 5. Remove unsuitable linker Original: Not to mention, when I first enrolled Suggested revision: When I first enrolled Why it matters: Not to mention cannot introduce this main sentence structure.
- 6. Use lowercase activity Original: Yoga Suggested revision: yoga Why it matters: Yoga is a common activity noun and does not require a capital letter here.
- 7. Use simple past Original: I had paid Rs 2000 Suggested revision: I paid Rs 2,000 Why it matters: Simple past fits the payment sequence, and the thousands separator improves number formatting.
- 8. State payment frequency Original: as a monthly fee Suggested revision: per month Why it matters: Per month expresses the recurring payment more directly.
- 9. Use membership noun Original: subscribed to the full-time silver member Suggested revision: upgraded to full-time silver membership Why it matters: A person subscribes to or upgrades to a membership, not to a member.
- 10. Format the amount Original: paid Rs 3500 Suggested revision: paid Rs 3,500 Why it matters: A thousands separator makes the monetary figure easier to read.
- 11. Use natural collocation Original: possess Suggested revision: enjoy Why it matters: Enjoy good health is the standard collocation.
- 12. Link benefits directly Original: not to mention the changes Suggested revision: as well as improvements Why it matters: The revised connector links the health, attitude, and personality benefits more clearly.
Suggested Rewrites
- immensely greatly
- benefits I had received benefits I received
- is are
- due to my transfer to a new office, which is in a different city due to my transfer to an office in another city
- Not to mention, when I first enrolled When I first enrolled
- Yoga yoga
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter covers the membership type and payments, benefits, and relocation reason clearly while maintaining a courteous tone. Its strongest content is the specific account of fees and personal improvement, but several awkward collocations and agreement errors reduce precision, and repetition weakens the flow. Prioritise natural membership language and accurate subject–verb agreement, then group payment, benefits, and cancellation into separate paragraphs.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
All three bullet points are developed with specific membership, payment, benefit, and relocation details, and the cancellation purpose remains clear and suitably polite.
Clarify the exact membership label by stating simply that the writer holds a silver membership paid monthly in cash.
Coherence and Cohesion
The letter progresses logically from appreciation to membership history, benefits, and cancellation, although repeated phrases and limited paragraphing make the flow less polished.
Give membership and payment, benefits, and the reason for leaving their own focused paragraphs.
Lexical Resource
There is a reasonably broad range of formal and appreciative vocabulary, but expressions such as "designate as a secretary," "possess good health," and "subscribed to the member" are inaccurate.
Use natural combinations such as "where you serve as secretary," "improved my health," and "upgraded to silver membership."
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Complex structures are attempted successfully in places, but errors in agreement, tense, and relative-clause construction are noticeable.
Correct forms such as "the benefits have been immeasurable," "I paid," and "the club, where you serve as secretary."
Write this task while it is fresh
Try the same task now. It helps you remember the feedback and write better next time.
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.