You have been working for a company for more than a few years, and now have decided to leave the company. Write a letter to your company manager saying that you want to leave the company. In your letter explain: - what you have learned while working for the company - whether you enjoyed working there - what your reasons are for leaving
Sample Response
Dear Mrs Alisha, I am writing to formally notify you that I have decided to resign from my position effective from 1 Marcheffective from the 1st of March. I would like to express my gratitude for the wonderful five years that I have spent working with you at Jones IncorporatedIncorporation. Working as a sales supervisor for almost half a decade in your esteemed organisation was one of the best opportunities in my life. I have gained valuable experience in dealing with customers and promoting products which I believe will help me further develop my career furtheradvance my career. Moreover, the coworkers, seniors and the management havehad been like a family to me. I enjoyed working for this company very muchto a great extent. I have recently accepted an offer forat a managerial position in DunkenDunken's Brothers Company. I am expected to startjoin there at the beginning of March. Hence, I would like you to release me from my dutiesdischarge me from my responsibilities before 1 Marchbefore 1st August 2020. In the meantime, I will hand over my assigned tasks and finish my workworks. I will always remember the excellent time I spent working with youthat I have spent working for you. I wish continued successI wish eternal progress and success for the company and the team. Yours faithfully, Rien Taylor
Why this response received Band 7.5
The letter gives a clear, appreciative account of the writer’s experience, enjoyment of the role, and reason for leaving, using a sensible sequence and generally professional language. Its main limitation is the contradictory resignation timeline, compounded by one-paragraph presentation and several awkward or inaccurate expressions; the highest priority is to state one unambiguous final working date, then organise the handover details into clear paragraphs and proofread the formal wording.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The letter covers what the writer learned, enjoyment of the role, and the reason for leaving. The resignation purpose is clear, but the dates conflict: it says effective 1 March and then asks to be discharged before 1 August 2020.
Make the resignation date consistent and include a clear final working day.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response follows a sensible order from resignation notice to appreciation, experience, reason, and handover. It is all in one paragraph, and the date inconsistency disrupts coherence.
Use separate paragraphs and correct the timeline so the handover section follows logically.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is professional and mostly flexible, with phrases such as “formally notify”, “valuable experience”, and “assigned tasks”. Some collocations are awkward, including “discharge me from my responsibilities” and “finish my works”.
Use standard resignation vocabulary such as “release me from my duties” and “complete my work”.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Grammar is generally clear but contains tense errors, article/preposition problems, and pluralisation mistakes. These do not block communication, but they reduce formal polish.
Check tense consistency when describing past work and use singular uncountable nouns such as “work”.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You have been working for a company for more than a few years, and now have decided to leave the company. Write a letter to your company manager saying that you want to leave the company. In your letter explain:
- what you have learned while working for the company
- whether you enjoyed working there
- what your reasons are for leaving
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.