Letter sample 12

IELTS tip

If you learn fixed phrases like “Should you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact me” or “I would greatly appreciate your assistance” you will save a lot of time during real exam. Many of candidates actually manage to write a letter in 15 minutes, adding extra 5 minutes to essay writing. One important point to mention: your structures need to be relevant to the topic, e.g. if you have a complaint letter, you need specific phrases like “I hope that you will give this matter your urgent consideration”.

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

Write at least 150 words.

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Sample Band 9 answer

Dear Mr Lee,

I am writing to you about the possibility of taking a fortnight off work in order to complete my Master’s degree in Engineering. I am almost finished writing my thesis, which must be submitted to my university by June 30th. Unfortunately, all my annual leave has been used up. Any time I took off, would naturally be unpaid; I would also check my email daily, and be available for emergency phone calls. On return, I would endeavour to come into the office earlier than usual and work Saturdays in order to catch up on anything I had missed. I have already spoken about my situation to my colleagues Mr Grunewald and Ms Tak, who are both willing to assume my responsibilities for two weeks.

I realise my temporary absence could be an inconvenience to you and the rest of the team, but in the long term, our company will benefit from my research. As you may be aware, I have been investigating 3-D printing for some time, and my thesis compares three printers already on the market with two designs pending patent and production. Since our company is considering developing software for these printers, my expertise will help give us a competitive edge.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Alexander Aksyonov