Writing Task 1 (General Training)Target band 7
Task
You ordered a piece of furniture online. It arrived three weeks late and was damaged.
Write a letter to the company. In your letter:
- explain what you ordered and when
- describe the problems
- say what you want the company to do
Write at least 150 words. Begin your letter "Dear Sir or Madam,". You do not need to write any addresses.
Task
A formal complaint letter. The register is set by the greeting: "Dear Sir or Madam" means you do not know the recipient, so contractions and casual phrasing will cost you marks. Cover all three bullets — missing one caps Task Achievement.
Model answer(184 words)
Dear Sir or Madam,
I am writing to complain about an order that arrived both late and damaged, and to ask what you intend to do about it.
On 14 March I ordered an oak dining table from your website, order number 48812. The confirmation email stated that delivery would take ten working days. The table did not in fact arrive until 8 April, three weeks beyond the date I was given, and despite two emails from me in the interim I received no explanation for the delay.
When the table was finally delivered, one leg was cracked and the surface was deeply scratched along the whole of one edge. The packaging was intact, which suggests the damage occurred before the item was dispatched rather than in transit.
I would like the table collected and replaced with an undamaged one at no cost to me, together with a refund of the delivery charge given the length of the delay. If a replacement is not available, I would prefer a full refund.
I look forward to your reply within fourteen days.
Yours faithfully,
Anna Petrenko
Why this answer scores well
Task Achievement: all three bullets are covered, in order, and each gets real detail — a date, an order number, the specific damage, and a specific remedy. Detail is what separates Band 7 from Band 6 in Task 1; "the table was damaged" is a bullet ticked, "one leg was cracked and the surface was deeply scratched along the whole of one edge" is a bullet answered.
Note the third bullet is answered with a stated preference *and* a fallback. Asking for something specific is stronger than "I hope you will resolve this matter".
Register: consistently formal. No contractions, no "I want", no exclamation marks. "Dear Sir or Madam" pairs with "Yours faithfully" — pairing it with "Yours sincerely" is a small error that examiners notice. The tone is firm without being rude, which is what the task wants.
Structure: one purpose sentence, then one paragraph per bullet, then a closing line. This is the safest Task 1 shape and it costs nothing to plan.
Lexical Resource: "in the interim", "beyond the date I was given", "dispatched", "in transit", "at no cost to me". Formal but not inflated — Task 1 rewards appropriate register, not difficult words.
Grammatical Range: a participle clause ("which suggests the damage occurred"), a conditional ("If a replacement is not available"), and controlled complex sentences throughout.
Grammar used here
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