5.2. Purpose and Layout
State why you are writing in the first line, then give every bullet its own paragraph, one step at a time.
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
You recently had a new washing machine delivered and installed by a local shop, but it has leaked water into your kitchen twice since it was fitted.
Write a letter to the shop's customer service manager. In your letter:
- give details of the purchase and the installation
- describe the problems the machine has caused
- say what you would like the shop to do
Begin your letter as follows:
Dear Sir or Madam,
Write at least 150 words.
The short version
The task gives you three bullets. Each one gets its own short paragraph.
The purpose line is your first sentence: one sentence saying why you are writing.
A missing bullet holds your Task Achievement band down, however good the English.
Greeting, purpose line, three paragraphs, closing line, sign-off. That shape always works.
What you have to do
The test shows a situation, the reader, and three bullet points. You write a letter of at least 150 words in about 20 minutes. It is marked on four things. First, whether it covers all three bullets in a tone that fits the reader. Then organisation, vocabulary and grammar. Layout means the order of the paragraphs. The safe layout is a greeting, a purpose line, one paragraph per bullet, a closing line and a sign-off. It works whoever the reader is.
The purpose line
A purpose line is one sentence, straight after the greeting, that says why you are writing. It usually names two things: the situation and what you want. I am writing to complain about a washing machine that has leaked twice since it was installed, and to ask for a repair. The reader then knows what kind of letter this is before any detail arrives. A letter that opens with background instead leaves the reader guessing.
Step by step
- 1Read the situation, the reader and the three bullets first
Read the whole task before you plan. The situation is the first sentence, the reader is named in the second, and the bullets are the three lines that follow. Number the bullets 1, 2, 3 in your notes. On the task above they are the purchase, the problems, and what you want the shop to do. That is three paragraphs, in that order.
- 2Decide what the task demands: every bullet, one tone, a purpose line
Every letter task wants three things. All three bullets, each with its own paragraph. A tone that fits the reader: formal for a manager you have never met, friendly for a friend. And a purpose line, one sentence after the greeting that says why you are writing. On the task above, the purpose is a complaint and a request: the leak, and what you want done about it.
- 3Use the bullets' words to plan one paragraph each
Turn each bullet into the first line of its paragraph, in your own words. Give details of the purchase and the installation becomes I bought the machine from your Fen Road branch on 2 May, and your engineer fitted it the following Tuesday. Then add one or two concrete details: a model number, a sum, a second date. Keep the bullets in the order the task gives them, so the reader can follow.
- 4Leave out what the bullets do not ask for
A letter is not an essay and not a life story. On the task above, the manager does not need your views on modern appliances or the history of your kitchen. If a sentence serves none of the three bullets, the purpose line or the closing, cut it. Extra sentences earn nothing: they cost time and bury the bullets.
- 5If you are stuck, use the fallback plan
Write the greeting. Then one sentence of purpose: I am writing to... Then one short paragraph per bullet with one concrete detail each: a date, a place, a sum of money. Then a closing line, I look forward to hearing from you, and the matching sign-off. Five parts, and the shape covers every bullet the examiner is looking for.
I would be grateful if you could send an engineer to inspect the machine before Friday 14 June and, if the fault cannot be repaired, replace it. I would also ask you to cover the cost of the kitchen flooring damaged in the second leak, for which I enclose a receipt.
- TaskA date is a concrete ask, not “please do something”.
- TaskThe second ask follows from the fault. Leaving bullet 3 vague holds Task Achievement down however good the English.
- CoherenceOne invented detail makes the request real. It stays consistent with the second leak named in the paragraph before.
Coloured text shows what the examiner is looking for.
Quiz time4 questions
Each drill gives you the task or the sentence it needs, so nothing has to be looked up. Practise one judgement at a time.
Count the paragraphs
Read the bullets, then decide the shape of the body.
Read thisTask: Your local library is going to end its evening opening hours. Write a letter to the library manager. In your letter: explain how you use the library in the evenings, say what effect the change will have on you, suggest an alternative.
How many body paragraphs does this letter need, and what is each one about?
Pick the purpose line
Three first sentences for the same letter. Choose the one that says why you are writing.
Read thisTask: You bought a bicycle online and it arrived with a damaged wheel. Write a letter to the seller. In your letter: give details of the order, describe the damage, say what you want the seller to do.
Which sentence is the purpose line?
Which bullet is this paragraph for?
Read the three bullets, then the paragraph. Decide which bullet it answers.
Read thisTask: A colleague is leaving after five years. Write a letter to your manager suggesting a leaving event. In your letter: explain why you want to hold an event, describe what you have in mind, say what help you need.
I have in mind a small gathering at the cafe on Quay Street on Friday 20 June, with drinks, a card signed by the whole team and a short speech.
Make the ask real
Bullet 3 wants a request. Choose the sentence the reader can act on.
Read thisTask: A parcel you paid extra to have delivered next day arrived a week late. Write a letter to the delivery company. Bullet 3: say what you want the company to do.
Which sentence answers bullet 3?
The full model
Below is a new situation with a complete formal letter written the way the five steps produce it. Read the purpose line first, then check each paragraph against its bullet.
You travel to work by train every day. For the past month, the early morning train you rely on has been cancelled several times a week. Write a letter to the train company. In your letter: - say how the cancellations have affected you - explain why you need this particular train - say what you want the company to do Write at least 150 words.
Dear Sir or Madam, I am writing to complain about the repeated cancellation of the 7.15 service from Fen to Harbury over the past month, and to ask for a partial refund of my season ticket. I travel on this train every weekday, and I have held an annual season ticket since January. Since 3 April the 7.15 has been cancelled at least twice a week, which has made me late for work on six occasions and cost me a day's pay when I missed a training course on 21 April. I need this particular train because the next service does not reach Harbury until 8.40, and my shift at the hospital starts at 8.00. The bus takes over an hour and is usually full by the time it reaches Fen. I would be grateful if you could confirm when a reliable timetable will be restored, and either refund one month of my season ticket or extend it by the same period. Yours faithfully, Jordan Hale
No name → Dear Sir or Madam and Yours faithfully. Purpose in the first sentence. Every bullet has a paragraph, in the order the task gives them, and the letter is comfortably over the 150-word minimum.
Your turn to write4 questions
Bullet or essay?
This sentence comes from a letter answering the train question above. Does it answer bullet 2, or has the writer drifted into an essay?
Reliable trains are important for the economy, and governments should invest more in railways so that everyone can benefit.
Bullet or essay?
Same question. Does this sentence answer bullet 2, or has the writer drifted into an essay?
My shift at the hospital starts at 8.00, and the next train after the 7.15 does not reach Harbury until 8.40.
Purpose in the first sentence?
Three letter openings: the greeting and the first sentence of each. Two state the purpose straight away. One leaves the reader guessing. Find it.
Which sentence contains the error?
Your turn: one bullet
A new situation. Write only the paragraph for bullet 3 (what you want the managing agent to do). Keep a formal tone.
The lift in your block of flats has been out of order for ten days. You live on the fifth floor with a pushchair. Write to the managing agent.
0 / 20 words
Set up your learning path at the top of this lesson to get band-specific feedback.
Tips
- Number the bullets in your notes
Note 1, 2, 3 with a word for each bullet, then mark each one done when its paragraph is written. A checklist is the cheapest check against a missing bullet.
- One detail per bullet is enough
A date, a sum, a name. Invent it, keep it consistent across the letter, and move on. Three details in a whole letter is plenty.
- Make the last paragraph the ask
Bullet 3 is usually what you want. Write it as a request with something the reader can act on: a date, a refund, a written reply.
Recap
Read the situation, the reader and the three bullets first, and number them.
Say why you are writing in the first sentence, then give each bullet its own short paragraph.
Leave out anything the bullets do not ask for: no essay, no life story.
Next: the phrases that make a formal letter sound formal.