General Training Writing Task 1: Letter Writing

General Training Writing Task 1 asks you to write a letter of at least 150 words in about 20 minutes, always covering three bullet points given in the prompt. Missing even one bullet point noticeably limits your Task Achievement score, regardless of how well-written the rest of the letter is.

Tone depends on the recipient: formal (a stranger in an official role, e.g. a company manager, a landlord you've never met) uses "Dear Sir/Madam" or "Dear Mr/Ms [Surname]" and no contractions; semi-formal (someone you have a professional but personal relationship with) is a middle ground; informal (a friend or family member) uses "Dear [First name]" and natural, conversational language including contractions.

Structure: an opening line stating your purpose for writing, then one paragraph per bullet point (roughly), then an appropriate closing (e.g. "Yours faithfully" for formal when you don't know the person's name, "Yours sincerely" when you do, "Best wishes" for informal).

Practice this using the Writing self-review tool on this course's exam-practice page, which includes a General Training letter-writing task with its own rubric.