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 appreciate the interviewappreciate 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, IAs such I must offer my sincere apologiespass my sincerest apologies for any difficulties related to the extra work that must have been involved, and the time spent on my behalftime wasted on your behalf. Although the offer was substantial, it was not enough to encourage me to leavesever the bonds with my current employer. During my time at my present company, my superiors supported me tremendously and supported my career developmentfostered my career. In short, they made me the employee I am today. I love my work here and would not leave 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 8.0
The letter fulfils its purpose clearly and professionally, giving substantial thanks and a convincing explanation of loyalty to the current employer. Its main limitation is an overly elaborate, apologetic style, with a few unnatural combinations that slightly reduce precision despite strong overall control. Prioritise a more concise explanation of the decision and use natural formal collocations throughout.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
All three requirements are fully addressed in a consistently formal letter, with clear gratitude and a well-developed reason for declining.
Make the response more efficient by reducing the extended apology and stating the decisive reason for declining more directly.
Coherence and Cohesion
Ideas follow a clear progression from thanks and refusal to the reasons for staying, and cohesive devices are used effectively.
Use separate paragraphs for gratitude, the decision, and the current-job explanation to make the structure even easier to scan.
Lexical Resource
The vocabulary is broad and suitably formal, although several elaborate expressions sound unnatural or imprecise.
Prefer natural business collocations such as 'sincerely apologise' and 'time spent by your staff' over inflated combinations.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A wide variety of complex structures is handled accurately, with only minor awkwardness and no loss of clarity.
Polish preposition and reference choices in phrases such as 'inconvenience caused by this' and 'would not leave my employer'.
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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.