Guides / General Training letters
IELTS General Training Formal Letters: Openings, Closings and the Three Bullet Points
General Training Task 1 gives you a situation and three bullet points. Those bullets are not suggestions. They are the marking scheme, and an answer that covers two of the three has capped its own Task Achievement score before the examiner reaches the second paragraph.
This post shows the bullet to paragraph mapping, the greeting and sign off pairs that actually go together, and one full letter that follows the method.
The band labels below are illustrative teaching labels, not a mark from a qualified examiner.
What the task gives you
Every General Training Task 1 has the same shape.
- A one line situation. Who you are writing to and why.
- Three bullet points, each beginning with a verb such as explain, describe, suggest or ask.
- The instruction to write at least 150 words in about 20 minutes.
Task Achievement here asks two things: did you cover all three bullets, and is the tone right for the reader. Everything else is Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource, and Grammatical Range and Accuracy, the same three criteria used in Task 2.
The bullets are the marking scheme
The mapping is mechanical, and that is the point. You do not need to invent a structure under exam pressure.
| Part of the letter | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Greeting | Dear plus the correct form of address |
| Opening line | One sentence stating why you are writing |
| Paragraph 1 | Bullet 1, developed with one or two extra details |
| Paragraph 2 | Bullet 2, developed the same way |
| Paragraph 3 | Bullet 3, developed the same way |
| Closing line | One sentence saying what you want to happen next |
| Sign off | The form that pairs with your greeting |
Three bullets, three body paragraphs. Do not merge two bullets into one paragraph to save time, because a merged bullet is the one most likely to end up half answered.
"Developed" means adding detail the task did not give you. If the bullet says "explain what the problem is", the paragraph says what the problem is, when it started, and how often it happens. Two or three sentences per bullet is enough.
Choosing the register
Register means how formal your language is. Get it wrong and the tone mark suffers no matter how accurate the grammar is. There are three cases and the test is simply who the reader is.
| Reader | Register | Greeting |
|---|---|---|
| Someone whose name you do not know, such as a manager or a company | Formal | Dear Sir or Madam |
| Someone whose name you know but who is not a friend, such as a landlord or a colleague | Semi formal | Dear Mr Chen, Dear Ms Ortega |
| A friend or family member | Informal | Dear Ali, Dear Mum |
If the task names the person, use the name. If it does not, use Dear Sir or Madam. Never invent a name for a person the task left unnamed.
Greetings and sign offs must pair
This is the single most common avoidable error in General Training Task 1, and it takes ten seconds to get right.
| Greeting | Correct sign off |
|---|---|
| Dear Sir or Madam | Yours faithfully |
| Dear Mr Chen | Yours sincerely |
| Dear Ms Ortega | Yours sincerely |
| Dear Ali | Best wishes, Best regards |
The rule behind it: if you named the reader, you sign sincerely. If you did not name them, you sign faithfully. Write your first name and family name under a formal or semi formal sign off, and just your first name under an informal one.
Two more points. There is no comma after "Yours faithfully" in British usage, though nobody will fail you for one. And "Dear Sir" alone is dated, so prefer "Dear Sir or Madam" when you do not know who will read the letter.
A worked example
Task. You recently attended a training course that was cancelled halfway through. Write a letter to the training company. In your letter:
- explain which course you attended and when
- describe the problems the cancellation caused you
- say what you would like the company to do
Answer.
Dear Sir or Madam, I am writing about the Advanced Project Management course I attended at your Manchester centre, which was cancelled after the second of its five sessions. I enrolled on the course on 3 March and attended the sessions on 10 and 17 March. On 20 March I received an email stating that the remaining three sessions would not take place, and no alternative dates were offered. The cancellation has caused me real difficulty. My employer paid the full fee of 480 pounds on the understanding that I would complete the qualification before our July audit, and I took three days of unpaid leave to attend. Without the final sessions I cannot sit the assessment, and the audit deadline cannot be moved. I would be grateful if you could either run the remaining sessions at your earliest convenience or refund the fee in full. Given the deadline I face, I would prefer the sessions to be rescheduled, and I am available on any weekday in June. I look forward to hearing from you within the next two weeks. Yours faithfully, Daniel Okoro
197 words.
What that letter is doing
Bullet one is in paragraph one, with dates the task did not supply. The course name, the centre, the enrolment date and the two sessions attended. None of that was given. Inventing plausible specifics is expected in this task and it is what separates a developed answer from a bare one.
Bullet two is in paragraph two, and it is about consequences. Not "I was disappointed" but the fee, the unpaid leave, and the audit deadline. Concrete consequences are easier to write about than feelings and they read as more adult.
Bullet three is in paragraph three and it is specific. "Please do something" covers the bullet weakly. Naming two acceptable outcomes, stating a preference, and offering availability covers it fully.
The tone stays even. Formal complaint letters lose marks when they slide into anger. "I am extremely angry about this disgraceful service" is informal in register despite the long words. "Has caused me real difficulty" carries the same message and stays in range.
Openings worth memorising
These fit almost any formal task, and using a reliable opener saves you thinking time for the content.
- Complaint. I am writing to express my concern about ...
- Request. I am writing to ask whether it would be possible to ...
- Application. I am writing to apply for the position of ... advertised on ...
- Explanation or apology. I am writing to explain why I was unable to ...
Avoid opening with "I hope this email finds you well" or "My name is". The first is filler and the second is answered by your signature.
Try this today
Take the task above, cover the answer, and write only the three body paragraphs with a fifteen minute timer. Then check three things: does each paragraph handle exactly one bullet, does each contain at least one detail you invented, and does your sign off pair with your greeting.
When you have a full letter, you can paste it into Bandly for an estimated band on each of the four criteria along with the sentences behind each judgement, which is a faster check than reading your own tone back to yourself.
Find out what this essay would score
Paste your own answer and Bandly returns an estimated band for each of the four criteria, with the sentences that pulled the score down. Under a cent an essay, about six seconds.
Check my essay