Part 1 of the Writing paper is always an email, and everyone writes it. You read a short email from a friend, a teacher or someone you know, with four notes added next to it, and you reply to every note.
Most of the time you are writing to a friend, so the tone is friendly and informal. If the email comes from a teacher or someone you don't know well, keep it warm but a little more polite.
The four notes are your content points. Each one asks you to do something different: agree, suggest, choose, explain, give news. Forget one and your Content mark drops, however good your English is.
Read each note together with the sentence it sits under. (Suggest...) next to "Where should we go?" means you must name a place, and ideally say why it's a good choice.
Look at who wrote to you and how. A friend who starts with "Hi!" expects contractions, short sentences and a warm voice (I'd love to, Guess what?). A teacher who writes "Dear students" expects the same content in a politer, fuller style.
Whatever you choose, keep it the same from start to finish. Opening with Hi Megan and ending with I look forward to your reply sounds strange to a friend.
Plan one short paragraph per note, or join two notes that clearly belong together. Greeting, a friendly opening line, the answers, a closing line and your name: the examiner should see the shape of an email at a glance.
With 100-120 words, each note gets about 20-25 words. One clear answer plus one reason or detail is exactly the right size.
Short, separate sentences read like a list. Join them with and, but, so, because, also and time words such as then or after that. A reason with because turns a bare answer into real communication.
Show a little range, too: a question back to your friend, a suggestion with How about...?, a promise with I'll, a comparison. Two or three well-used structures impress more than long, rare words.
Examiners use four criteria. Content: are all four notes answered? Communicative Achievement: does it sound like a real email to this person? Organisation: paragraphs and linking. Language: range and accuracy of grammar and vocabulary.
Content comes first. A simple email that answers every note does better than an impressive one that misses a note.
Don't copy whole sentences from the email you received: it wastes words and shows none of your own English. Say it your way. Also watch for a missing sign-off, one long block of text and going far over 120 words.
Check you did what each note asked. (Choose...) means pick one option, not "both are fine". (Explain...) means give a reason, not just yes or no.
Your English friend Alex has emailed you about a 5 km charity run. Reply using all four of your notes: (Brilliant!) about the run, (Yes, because...) to taking part together, (Suggest...) when to train and (Tell Alex) who could sponsor you.
Hi Alex, Thanks for your email. A charity run sounds brilliant, and it's for a really good cause! Yes, I'd love to take part with you, because I've wanted to get fitter for ages. It'll be much more fun if we do it together. How about going running in the park on Tuesday and Thursday evenings after school? We could start with two kilometres and run a bit further every week. I'll ask my aunt and uncle to sponsor us. They always help when there's a charity event, and my grandad might give something too. I can't wait to start training. Let me know which days suit you! Love, Marta
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