The manager at the company you work for is going to retire next month. The manager’s assistant has invited some suggestions about what kind of event they should do to say goodbye to him. Write a letter to your manager's assistant. In your letter: - say what kind of event you have in your mind - mention why you liked him/her as a manager - what kind of present can be given to your manager / Mrs...............,
Sample Response
Dear Linda, Thank you for asking me for suggestionstaking me into confidence to request some suggestions from my end regarding how to give Mr Oliver a fitting farewellhow to send a befitting farewell and “goodbye” to our manager, Mr Oliver. Well, while I have rather limited experience in organising such eventsthese kinds of things, I would surely like to offer some suggestions forin order to throw a successful farewell party for our manager at a nice hotel—preferablyhotel- preferably at Grand Boutique Party Centre and Hotel. I think a buffet lunch would be appropriatewould be deserving and suitable. Our manager deserves this kind of party because he truly has been an inspirational leader overthroughout the years through his hard workworks and diligence. Besides, his contributions to our overall marketing strategy and the daily operationsoperation of the department have ensured phenomenal growth for our company. HoweverBut, what I really like the most about him is that he has never given up on any of his subordinates and instead has always taken the initiativepersonal initiatives to help us do better at our jobs. By the way, I have some great gift ideas for our favourite outgoing manager, including a smart leathernice looking, leather-made executive bag, a branded wristwatch and a metal desktop clock, and a pencil holdera metal desktop clock and finally, a pencil holder. Anyway, those are all the suggestionsthat is all the suggestions I have for you now. Let me know what you think of them. Yours sincerely, Oscar Leo
Why this response received Band 7.5
The letter gives a clear, friendly, and well-developed response, with specific suggestions for the event, convincing reasons for appreciating the manager, and several suitable gift ideas. The main weakness is that some expressions are over-elaborate or slightly unnatural, and the single-block presentation weakens readability; the best improvement is to organise the three requested points into distinct paragraphs and use more idiomatic phrasing.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
All three bullet points are covered directly and developed with specific, relevant details in a suitably friendly workplace register.
Select one preferred gift and briefly justify why it suits the manager instead of offering a long list without prioritisation.
Coherence and Cohesion
Ideas follow a clear sequence and linking is effective, but presenting the entire letter as one paragraph reduces structural clarity.
Divide the response into short paragraphs for the event, appreciation of the manager, and the recommended present.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is varied and often effective, though phrases such as 'taking me into confidence to request' and 'hard works' are not fully natural or accurate.
Use simpler idiomatic combinations, such as 'asking for my suggestions' and 'hard work and diligence', to improve precision.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response uses varied complex sentences with generally good control, although a few agreement, number, and punctuation errors remain.
Proofread plural and agreement forms, especially 'hard work' and 'those are all the suggestions', and tighten punctuation around lists.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
The manager at the company you work for is going to retire next month. The manager’s assistant has invited some suggestions about what kind of event they should do to say goodbye to him. Write a letter to your manager's assistant. In your letter:
- say what kind of event you have in your mind
- mention why you liked him/her as a manager
- what kind of present can be given to your manager / Mrs...............,
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.