You have been doing some voluntary work to help your local community. However, now you are unable to continue doing this work. Write a letter to the manager of the organisation where you have been working. In your letter: - describe the work you have been doing - explain why you can no longer do this work recommend another person - who is interested in the work
Same question Compare all 2 answers See different approaches and band scores for this IELTS task.Sample Response
Dear Mr Reeve, Hope you are well. I am writing this letter to inform you that sadly, I won’t be able to continue my voluntary work for your organisation as I will move to another city at the beginning of September. Just so you know, I have been involved with your organisation for almost 2 years, and I must say that I have enjoyed it so much. Helping homeless people, collecting non-perishable food items from people in order to donate to your food bank, and cleaning our neighbourhood from time to time were some excellent work that I did. Besides, I have learned about how to build a team and motivate its members in a good humanitarian cause as well as how to coordinate their activities. In fact, after working here for almost 2 years, I started to consider each and every staff of this organisation as my family. But, as much as I would like to continue, the truth is I won’t be able to do so because I will have to move to another city with my family for some professional reasons. However, before I leave, I would like to recommend Mr Marcus, one of my colleagues at my current office, who has expressed his interest to carry on with the task that I was doing. I hope you can meet him next Friday to talk to him in detail. Thank you once again and I will miss you all. Yours sincerely, John Trent
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Remove redundant words Original: this letter Suggested revision: Delete Why it matters: The verb ‘writing’ already makes it clear that this is a letter.
- 2. Place adverb naturally Original: that sadly, Suggested revision: that, unfortunately, Why it matters: The parenthetical adverb is more natural in this position and suits a professional letter.
- 3. Use planned future form Original: as I will move Suggested revision: because I will be moving Why it matters: The continuous future form clearly presents the move as an arranged event.
- 4. Use formal register Original: Just so you know Suggested revision: For context Why it matters: The replacement is more appropriate when writing to the organisation’s manager.
- 5. Spell out number Original: 2 years Suggested revision: two years Why it matters: Spelling out this small number is more conventional in a formal letter.
- 6. Refine expression Original: enjoyed it so much Suggested revision: greatly enjoyed the experience Why it matters: The revision gives the pronoun a clear referent and maintains a professional tone.
- 7. Use formal addition Original: Besides Suggested revision: In addition Why it matters: ‘In addition’ introduces the related skills point in a more formal register.
- 8. Fix verb pattern Original: learned about how Suggested revision: learned how Why it matters: ‘Learned how to’ is the correct construction before an infinitive.
- 9. Correct collocation Original: in a good humanitarian cause Suggested revision: in support of a worthwhile humanitarian cause Why it matters: The revised prepositional phrase expresses participation in the cause naturally.
- 10. Use countable noun Original: each and every staff Suggested revision: every staff member Why it matters: ‘Staff’ cannot refer to one individual after ‘every’ without the countable noun ‘member’.
- 11. Use formal transition Original: But, Suggested revision: However, Why it matters: ‘However’ gives the contrast a more appropriate formal tone.
- 12. Be more direct Original: for some professional reasons Suggested revision: for work-related reasons Why it matters: The revision states the reason more naturally without the vague phrase ‘some professional reasons’.
Suggested Rewrites
- this letter Delete
- that sadly, that, unfortunately,
- as I will move because I will be moving
- Just so you know For context
- 2 years two years
- enjoyed it so much greatly enjoyed the experience
Why this response received Band 7.5
The letter communicates its purpose immediately and gives substantial, relevant detail about the voluntary duties, the reason for leaving, and the proposed replacement. Its main limitation is that the response is presented as one long block and contains several awkward grammatical and lexical choices. The most valuable improvement is to paragraph the three requested functions separately and proofread countable nouns, agreement, and natural collocations.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Detailed feedback by IELTS writing criterion after the annotated essay.
Task Achievement
All requested points are fully covered with clear supporting detail, and the friendly yet respectful tone suits a familiar manager.
Make the recommendation even more useful by briefly stating a relevant skill or quality that makes Marcus suitable for the role.
Coherence and Cohesion
The message develops logically from the decision to leave through past duties and reasons to the replacement, but the single long paragraph limits clarity.
Create distinct paragraphs for the work performed, the reason for leaving, and the recommendation, and trim repeated references to two years.
Lexical Resource
The response demonstrates a good range of vocabulary for community work and personal reflection, although some word combinations and noun choices are awkward.
Use more natural forms such as 'valuable work', 'every member of staff', and 'take over my duties'.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
There is a good range of complex structures and meaning remains clear, but occasional fragments, agreement errors, and punctuation slips reduce accuracy.
Proofread sentence completeness and noun-verb agreement, especially 'Hope you are well' and 'were some excellent work that I did'.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You have been doing some voluntary work to help your local community. However, now you are unable to continue doing this work. Write a letter to the manager of the organisation where you have been working. In your letter:
- describe the work you have been doing
- explain why you can no longer do this work recommend another person
- who is interested in the work
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.