English · Email Writing
Email to the Principal Asking for Leave
A formal email to a school authority, with the register and layout it requires.
A formal email keeps the email structure but takes the register of an application: "Dear Sir" or "Respected Sir", a subject line naming the request, a first line stating who you are and which class you are in, the reason for the leave, the exact dates, and "Yours obediently" with your name and roll number.
The question: Write an email to the principal of your college praying for leave of absence.
The format
The header, formally
A formal email keeps the same header as an informal one but fills it differently. The To field is an institutional address, and the Subject names the request and, where relevant, the dates: Application for leave on 12–14 September.
- Use an institutional-looking address: principal@[college].edu.bd.
- Put the dates in the subject line if the request has any — it lets the reader act without opening the message.
- No Cc unless the question asks for one.
Salutation and opening
Use Dear Sir, or Respected Sir,. The first sentence identifies you and states the request: your name, class, section and roll number, then what you are asking for. A formal email states its purpose immediately, with no greeting before it.
Body — reason, dates, request
One short paragraph is usually enough. Give the reason plainly, state the exact dates, and make the request in a single sentence. Do not explain at length; a leave application is judged on clarity, not on the strength of the excuse.
- State exact dates, not “for a few days”.
- Offer to make up missed work if that is relevant.
- Keep the reason brief and plausible; two lines is plenty.
Closing
Yours obediently is the conventional subscription for a student writing to a principal in Bangladesh; Yours faithfully is also accepted. Follow it with your full name, class and roll number. No postal address.
Model answer
Model answer (about 130 words)
Subject: Application for leave on 12–14 September
Dear Sir,
I am Nusrat Jahan, a student of Class XII, Section B, Roll 24, of your college. I am writing to request three days' leave of absence.
My elder sister's wedding is to be held at our family home in Natore on 13 September, and as the ceremonies begin the previous day my parents wish me to travel with them on 12 September. I therefore request leave from 12 to 14 September inclusive. I have spoken to my class captain about collecting notes for the lessons I will miss, and I shall complete the assignments due in that week before I leave.
I should be grateful if you would kindly grant me leave for these three days.
Yours obediently,
Nusrat Jahan
Class XII, Section B, Roll 24
What earns and loses marks
- Identify yourself in the first sentence — name, class, section, roll. A principal receives many such messages and an unidentified one cannot be acted on.
- Give exact dates and state whether they are inclusive.
- 🚨 Use Yours obediently to a principal. Yours ever is informal and Yours sincerely needs a named recipient.
- Offer to make up missed work; it takes one clause and improves the request.
- No postal address and no contractions anywhere in a formal email.
Mistakes to avoid
- ✗ Hi Sir, I need leave for some days. ✓ Dear Sir, I am writing to request three days’ leave of absence.
- ✗ Yours ever, Nusrat ✓ Yours obediently, Nusrat Jahan, Class XII, Roll 24
Frequently Asked Questions
Either is accepted in Bangladeshi board answers. “Respected Sir” is the more traditional form for a principal and “Dear Sir” the more standard English one. Choose one and pair it with “Yours obediently” or “Yours faithfully” at the end.
Two lines. State what the reason is and where, and stop. A long explanation reads as pleading and uses space the request needs. The examiner is marking whether you can make a clear formal request, not whether the reason is compelling.
Yes — in the opening sentence and again under your name at the end. It is the formal-email equivalent of an address, it identifies you to a reader who does not know you, and leaving it out is a genuine omission rather than a stylistic choice.
Keep going
Model answers, formats and grammar rules for every SSC and HSC writing question.