Excuse Letter

Skipped a day or two at school or office pertaining to illness, an unavoidable appointment or Monday morning blues? And now you are looking for something to get you out of the mess. A well drafted and convincing excuse letter comes in handy especially in cases like these. An excuse letter is a letter which you write to the higher authorities when you want to take a leave (generally), or have already taken a leave (some cases), typically from work or school. Writing an excuse letter is an important deal as it shows the sincerity of the person, and also that the person knows the value of time and is apologetic of the inconvenience which is caused because of his absence. Hence, in a nutshell, excuse letter presents the absentee in better light and puts an impressionable impact. So, that is why it becomes all the more important to write the letter in correct style, tone and format. Here we are providing you with all the information you will need in drafting a perfect excuse letter.

How To Write An Excuse Letter

As this is a formal letter, start with entering the date on the top left hand corner. Make the date to the one on which you are handling the letter to the addressee. Plus, mention the date on which you missed the office as it denotes if you submitted the letter before missing the office or after it and also helps in maintaining records.
After writing the date, put the name of the addressee just below the date after leaving a line space. It will be aligned to the left hand side of the sheet. Add the designation of the addressee below it, followed by the brief address, including the city of the addressee.
Below these, after a line space, will come the subject of letter. Give it a heading like, ‘Subject: …’ and mention the name of the defaulter in the subject line along with the ID no. if any. Also mention the reason of writing the letter. However, this should not be longer than a couple of lines. You are just supposed to give a brief about the body of the letter.
Then follows the body of the letter where you can write the reason of the leave, important dates as in the period of the leave and any other important detail which needs to be submitted. For e.g., in case of a student missing school, he/she can request for the assignments to be arranged etc. Conclude the body with appropriate remarks but don’t get overwhelmed. Stick to the point and try to be concise.
After adding a ‘thanking you’, close the letter with appropriate salutation like ‘yours sincerely’, ‘yours faithfully’, ‘yours obediently’ etc and then sign below this remark, adding after it: ID or Roll no.
Add a P.S. note after this if you are adding documents like a Doctor’s certificate, or medical certificate etc., mentioning the details of attached documents.

Additional Tips

Use a durable and good quality white sheet of paper for writing the letter; A4 size sheet is considered ideal for excuse letters. And don’t even try to fill in the blank spaces and margins with graffiti or other designs and also - no coloured sheets please!
If you are giving a printed letter then try making it formal by using Times New Roman font or Arial font of size twelve. No need printing borders or frames; make it as simple as possible. Though you can make the important details in bold.
But, if you are giving a hand written excuse letter then you should stick to cursive writing and avoid using calligraphy while writing the letter. Just keep in mind that the handwriting should be legible and should convey the reason(s) for leave.
Proofread the letter twice before submitting it to the authorities, as any mistake in this letter will present you in bad light.
The tone should be polite and soft even if you are feeling otherwise for whatever reasons.

Formats for Excuse Letters

Sample # 1

Date:

Mr. XYZ,

Manager,

XYZ Inc,

XYZ City.

Subject: Leave application for the period xx August xxxx to xx August xxxx

Dear Sir,

I wish you to inform that I will not be available for a period of two days starting on xx August xxxx to xx August xxxx. The reason of the leave being that I have purchased a house in the nearby city and hence, have to settle some legal issues, along with finalizing the possession of the property during these two days. I also need to immediately shift into the new house and thus won’t be able to attend office for the above mentioned period.

If needed, I can be contacted on my cell phone, in lieu of any problems that may occur during my absence. I have also instructed my colleague Mr. ABC regarding the details of the projects I am handling and he is well aware of the situation and can handle the same for two days. I kindly request you to grant me a leave for two days.

Thanking you.

Yours Sincerely,

XYZ

Sample # 2

Date: …

Mr. XYZ,

Class Teacher,

XYZ School,

XYZ City.

Subject: Leave Application for the period of xx March xxxx to xx March xxxx

Dear Mr. (Teacher’s Name),

I am XYZ, the mother of XYZ who is a student of grade VI. My ward was sick yesterday with running temperature and an upset stomach. So, she could not attend school for the same reason. I understand that the test conducted yesterday was of utmost importance and you have my sincere apologies for my ward missing it. However, it will be extremely kind if you could conduct it again for the benefit of my ward; I would be really grateful to you. If that is not possible, I will understand the concern and I am ready to forego the marks for it.

Kindly consider my request.

Thanking You

Yours Sincerely,

XYZ

P.S. Please find attached a copy of medical certificate inside the envelope.

How to Cite

Excuse Letter

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