Formal E-mail/Letter
When we write an email or letter, the audience is typically a single recipient or a specific organisation. This page covers formal emails and letters: the kind you send to someone you do not know personally, or to a person in authority, such as a school principal, a local council official, a business manager, or an admissions officer. But what are the key features? What makes it an "appropriate" choice for context, audience, and purpose on the Paper 1 exam? How should it be structured, and what registers should you use? This guide gives you everything you need to produce a top-mark formal email or letter on exam day.
KEY FEATURES
Context, Audience, & Purpose
- Context: The task sets up an official, real-life scenario, such as proposing a change at school, making a formal complaint about a service or decision, applying for an opportunity, or raising a concern with the local community.
- Audience: Someone in a position of authority or someone you do not know personally, like a headteacher, an employer, a local official, or an admissions officer. Because you do not have a casual relationship with them, you need to show respect and keep things professional.
- Purpose: Usually to persuade, request, complain, or suggest solutions. You want to present clear points, back them up with sensible reasoning or examples, and encourage the reader to take action.
Register and Tone
- Will use a consistently formal style from start to finish. Leave out slang, chatty shortcuts, and abbreviations.
- Will sound polite, serious, and respectful. Even if you are complaining or disagreeing with a decision, the tone should stay calm, mature, and constructive rather than angry or emotional.
Conventions (Formal letter)
- Clear identification of recipient (by name, address or role/title etc.)
- Date (and sender’s address)
- Opening and closing salutations
Conventions (Formal email)
- Clear sense of address to a specific person
- Statement of subject in the heading
- Appropriate opening and closing salutations
A formal letter or official email will be appropriate if the prompt asks you to contact a specific person in a professional role or an organisation, such as a school principal, a facilities manager, or a local council. The task will require you to communicate directly with this recipient for a clear, official purpose, such as asking for permission, requesting practical support, raising a serious concern, or making a formal suggestion. Unlike text types meant for public reading or casual conversation, this choice requires a polite, respectful tone and a structured layout suited to an official school, workplace, or community situation.
Paper 1 examiners are given detailed notes on each task to help them mark Criterion C. The table below outlines the rationale for choosing each text type. Below you can see such tables for both the letter and email tasks above.
Formal Email Task
| Text Type | Rationale | |
| Appropriate | The task requires direct, official communication with a member of staff (the facilities manager) to ask for permission and support. A formal email is the standard institutional format for internal requests, using a polite register, clear subject focus, and practical requests for assistance. | |
| Generally appropriate | Presentation | This text type is usually delivered to a group of people. However, it could be considered appropriate if it’s framed as a formal pitch of the plans in a meeting with the facilities manager. |
| Generally inappropriate | Interview | This text type does not match the communicative purpose. An interview records a question-and-answer dialogue to explore a person's views, rather than presenting a concrete plan and asking a staff member for official assistance. |
Formal Letter Task
| Text Type | Rationale | |
| Appropriate | Letter | The context requires direct, formal communication with an official civic body (the local council) regarding a policy decision. A formal letter adopts the necessary professional register, respectful conventions, and structured argumentation to convey civic concern and put forward constructive, viable proposals. |
| Generally appropriate | News report | This text type can be considered appropriate if framed for a local newspaper that councillors are likely to read. By incorporating balanced perspectives, such as statements from council representatives alongside interviews with affected residents and youth health experts, the report presents the issue and suggested solutions to the community while still holding decision-makers accountable. |
| Generally inappropriate | Review | This text type fails to meet the core communicative purpose of the task. A review evaluates the amenities, customer service, or overall quality of a venue for prospective customers. Critiquing the facility does not address the council's policy decision, nor does it provide a suitable framework for submitting alternative funding proposals to civic leaders. |
Be careful not to confuse a formal letter or email with…
- An article: An article is written for a broad, public readership to inform, examine, or entertain through publication in a magazine, newspaper, or website. While an article explores an issue generally for anyone interested in the topic, a formal letter or email is sent directly to a specific professional recipient to achieve a definite, practical outcome.
- A proposal: Although both formats share a professional tone and present structured ideas, a proposal is usually a formal planning document submitted to a committee or board. It focuses primarily on project viability, budgets, and detailed implementation phases, whereas a formal letter or email is a direct piece of correspondence used to introduce an idea, ask for permission, or open a dialogue.
- A speech or presentation: Spoken texts rely on oral rhetoric, performance techniques, and direct address to engage a live, collective audience in a room or assembly. A formal letter or email is a written exchange between individual parties, relying on clear written conventions, official phrasing, and a measured tone rather than persuasive spoken performance.
A letter is an appropriate choice when the task asks you to share personal experiences, thoughts, and feelings with a specific person you know. Unlike text types meant for a broad readership, it is designed for direct, one-to-one communication, functioning as a private conversation between friends or acquaintances rather than a public broadcast.
Format and Approach: Formal Letters and Emails
Both the formal letter and official email share the same main purpose: you are writing a professional message to a specific person in a position of authority or an organisation, such as a school principal, a facilities manager, or a local council. Your tone should be polite and respectful, and your writing must stay focused on achieving a clear, official outcome while addressing all parts of the prompt directly.
Layout and Format
- Formal Email: Include clear header details, especially a precise Subject Line that states the exact purpose of your message (for example, Proposal for Cafeteria Waste Reduction Scheme). Open with a formal salutation (Dear Mr Harrison, or Dear Principal Davies,). Sign off with an official closing phrase followed by your full name and relevant role (Yours sincerely, Alex Morgan / Student Council Representative).
- Formal Letter: Include standard formal correspondence features, such as the date and the recipient's title or address at the top. Open with an appropriate formal salutation (Dear Ms Patel, or Dear Sir or Madam, if the recipient's name is unknown). Conclude with a traditional sign-off (Yours sincerely, if addressing the recipient by name, or Yours faithfully, if using an unnamed title), followed by your full name and title.
Key Tips for Writing a Strong Response
- Establish a Clear Reason for Writing Immediately: State your purpose directly in the opening paragraph. Explain who you are and why you are contacting the recipient before moving into the details. Official readers appreciate clarity and directness.
- Maintain a Consistently Polite and Professional Register: Avoid colloquial phrasing, slang, contractions, and overly emotional language. Even when raising a serious concern or lodging a complaint, express your points with calm, measured, and respectful vocabulary.
- Organise Points with Logical Signposting: Group your ideas into distinct, well-sequenced paragraphs. Use clear topic sentences and formal linking words (such as Furthermore, In addition, or Consequently) to guide the reader through your explanation, proposal, or request.
- End with a Constructive Call to Action: Conclude your message by politely requesting a response, suggesting a short follow-up meeting, or thanking the recipient for their time and consideration. This reinforces the professional relationship and ensures your communication leads to practical next steps.
Relevant writing purposes
Any email or letter will naturally bring together several purposes. The main framework is always written interaction, which in this case will be formal rather than informal, shown through polite greetings, serious language, and an official sign-off. Inside this framework, other purposes will support your message. You will often use factual explanation to outline a problem clearly, followed by balanced argument to suggest realistic solutions or persuade the reader to support your plan. If you need to mention recent events, you will rely on factual narration and factual description, rather than creative storytelling. Even objective analysis & critique can appear when you need to evaluate an existing system in your school or community.
Two versions are presented: one for HL, with three required elements, and one for SL, with two required elements.
Prompt 1
(HL) You have recently downloaded a new app for your phone that you enjoyed but it had some problems. You are concerned that the designer of the app should know about both the good elements of the app, but that changes should be made to make it better. Write a text in which you describe your experience of the app, both the good aspects and the unsatisfactory aspects, and then explain what improvements you would recommend.
(i) Email .... (ii) Review .... (iii) Speech
(SL) You have recently downloaded a new app for your phone for your phone that you enjoyed, but it had some problems. You are concerned that the designer of the app should know about both the good elements of the app, but that changes should be made to make it better. Write a text in which you describe your experience of the app, and then explain what improvements you would recommend.
(i) Email .... (ii) Review .... (iii) Speech
Prompt 2
(HL) Your local town library is planning to stop running activities for young people because fewer teenagers visit. You want to persuade the head librarian that the library could become popular again. Write a text in which you examine why teenagers currently avoid using the library, explain how new learning spaces would benefit young people in the community, and suggest practical ways the library could make these changes.
(i) Formal letter … (ii) Social media post … (iii) Interview
(SL) Your local town library is planning to stop running activities for young people because fewer teenagers visit. You want to persuade the head librarian that the library could become popular again. Write a text in which you describe what local teenagers need, and suggest practical ways the library could provide these facilities.
(i) Formal letter … (ii) Social media post … (iii) Interview