IELTS General Task 1: Letter Requesting a Training Course at Work

IELTS Writing Practice — AI-Powered Feedback

Writing Prompt

You would like to attend a training course that would help you do your job better, but you need your employer's approval and support to take part.

Write a letter to your manager. In your letter:

describe the training course you would like to attend
explain how it would help you in your current role
say what support you are asking your manager to provide

Write at least 150 words. You do NOT need to write any addresses. Begin your letter as follows: Dear Mr Anderson,

Show Band 8–9 model answer

Dear Mr Anderson,

I am writing to request your approval to attend a five-day "Advanced Data Analytics for Marketing Professionals" course offered by the London School of Business next month. The programme focuses on practical skills in Excel modelling, dashboard creation in Power BI, and interpreting customer behaviour using real company datasets.

As our team increasingly relies on data-driven decisions for campaign planning, this training would significantly improve the quality and speed of my work. At present, I often need support from the analytics department to build reports and segment customer groups. The course would enable me to perform much of this analysis independently, produce more accurate forecasts, and provide clearer insights during our weekly strategy meetings. Ultimately, this should help us optimise campaign budgets and improve conversion rates.

I would be grateful if the company could cover the course fee of £1,200 and allow me five days of paid study leave from 14–18 October. I am happy to complete any urgent tasks in advance and provide a short presentation to the team afterwards to share the key tools and techniques I have learned.

Thank you very much for considering my request, and I look forward to your response.

Yours sincerely,
James Carter

Why this response works

This response fully addresses all three bullet points, with clear description of the course, specific benefits to the role, and a precise request for support. The tone is consistently formal and appropriate to a workplace context. Ideas are logically organised with clear paragraphing and smooth cohesion (e.g. "As our team increasingly…", "Ultimately, this should…"). Vocabulary is varied and natural ("data-driven decisions", "optimise campaign budgets", "paid study leave"). Grammar is accurate, with a wide range of complex sentence structures and no noticeable errors. The letter length and format are well controlled and realistic for a Band 8–9 model.