You work for a company and have recently decided to leave your current employment. Write a letter to your employer. In your letter: - explain why you are writing - explain why you have decided to leave the company - tell your employer what you plan to do after leaving your present employment
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam, I am writing this letter to inform you about my decision to resign from my positionnot to continue serving your company. After careful considerationAfter giving a lot of thought and consideration to my current situation, I have finally decided to leave your company, effective from 1 August 2025effective from 1st of August 2025, and pursue a different career pathpursue another course of plan and career in future. In fact, I want to work in the field of horticultureHorticulture. But, please know that I have learned a lotI have learned about a lot of things after working at your company. Besides, each and every staff membereach and every staff at your company has treated me like part of the familyhas treated me like their family just as I have done with them. So, there is absolutely nothing wrong as far as your company and my current position are concerned. As for my future plansBy the way, I want to pursue my career as a horticulturistHorticulturist because my family has a substantial amount of landsome substantial land property and gardens which I want to look after and possibly expandlook after, and possibly expand them as much as I can. It is just that for the last couple of years, I have felt really strongly about working in the field and remainingremain close to Mother Nature instead of getting stuck in an office environment. Thank you once again for everything you have done for me. I will always be indebted.I will be always indebted. Yours faithfully, Pema Lingpa
Why this response received Band 7.5
The letter communicates its resignation purpose clearly and develops a convincing reason and future plan, with appropriately expressive vocabulary that keeps the message easy to follow. Its main weakness is formal polish: the single-paragraph structure, casual transitions, awkward phrasing, and several grammatical slips weaken professionalism, so the highest priority is to reorganise the content into clear formal paragraphs and refine the wording while adding a practical handover offer.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The letter explains the decision to leave, gives a reason related to horticulture and family land, and states the future plan. The purpose is clear, though it could include a more explicit notice-period or transition detail for the employer.
Add a sentence offering to help with handover before the leaving date.
Coherence and Cohesion
The ideas are logically ordered and the resignation purpose is easy to follow. The response is one long paragraph and some transitions, such as “By the way”, are too casual for the formal context.
Divide the letter into formal paragraphs and use professional transitions for the reason and future plan.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is appropriate and sometimes expressive, including “effective from”, “substantial land property”, and “office environment”. Some phrases are awkward or inaccurate, including “course of plan and career” and “remain close to Mother Nature”.
Choose simpler professional wording for resignation and career plans.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Meaning is clear, but several errors affect polish: article use, prepositions, capitalisation, and verb forms such as “remain close”. Sentence structures are varied but sometimes wordy.
Proofread noun phrases and verb forms, especially in the explanation of future horticulture work.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You work for a company and have recently decided to leave your current employment. Write a letter to your employer. In your letter:
- explain why you are writing
- explain why you have decided to leave the company
- tell your employer what you plan to do after leaving your present employment
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.