You cannot go to a company where you received a job offer. Write a letter to the HR supervisor. In your letter: - explain why you are declining the offer - express your gratitude - explain why you like your current job very much
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam, I have been offered a job at your company as a Business Executive and I would like to sincerelyprofoundly thank you for such an opportunity. It is, however, a matter of regret that I must decline your generous offer and apologise for any inconvenience this may causecaused due to this. I greatly appreciateappreciate immensely the interview organised by your company and the extensive effort of all the staff involved. Their attitude was impressive and highly commendable. As such I must offerpass my sincerest apologies for any difficulties related to the extra work that must have been involved, and the time your team has spentthe time wasted on your behalf. Although the offer was substantial, it was not enough to encourage me to sever the bonds with my current employer. During my time at my present company, my superiors supported me tremendously and nurtured my professional developmentfostered my career. In short, they made me the employee I am today. I love my work here and would not leave my current role solely forleave them only for a slight salary increase. I would like to keep the lines of communication open between us and look forward to further correspondence. Yours faithfully, Juan Carter
Why this response received Band 7.5
The response achieves its purpose convincingly, covering gratitude, the decision to decline, and loyalty to the current employer in a consistently formal voice. The main limitation is that some expressions are overly elaborate or imprecise, and the single-block structure weakens visual organisation; prioritise natural professional phrasing and clear paragraph divisions to improve readability and credibility.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The letter clearly declines the offer, expresses substantial gratitude, and gives a well-developed reason for remaining with the current employer.
State the decision and its central reason a little more directly, avoiding excessive apology that may distract from the communicative purpose.
Coherence and Cohesion
The message follows a clear sequence and cohesive devices are used effectively, though the lack of visible paragraphing makes the response unnecessarily dense.
Separate the opening decision, appreciation, reasons for staying, and closing into purposeful paragraphs.
Lexical Resource
A wide and flexible vocabulary supports a professional tone, but collocations such as "profoundly thank you" and "pass my sincerest apologies" sound strained.
Prefer natural business-letter expressions such as "thank you sincerely" and "offer my sincere apologies" while retaining the strong lexical range.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A wide range of complex structures is handled accurately, and errors are rare and do not impede communication.
Polish minor reference and preposition choices, particularly when referring consistently to the current employer and its staff.
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
You cannot go to a company where you received a job offer. Write a letter to the HR supervisor. In your letter:
- explain why you are declining the offer
- express your gratitude
- explain why you like your current job very much
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.