Formal Letter Writing
The bank-exam formal letter: its fixed layout, the job each of the three body paragraphs does, the tone for a complaint, request, enquiry or application, and a full worked complaint letter with a note on why each part works.
What you will be able to do
- Lay out a formal letter with heading, subject line, salutation, body and close in the expected order.
- Assign each body paragraph one job: state the purpose, give the detail, name the action wanted.
- Set the right tone for a complaint, request, enquiry or application — firm, courteous and specific.
- Judge an opening or closing line for register and directness.
What is inside this lesson
- 1When a letter is set
- 2The fixed layout
- 3One job per paragraph
- 4Types and tone
- 5Worked example: a complaint letter
- 6Common faults
- 7Quick revision
- 8Practice
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When a letter is set
The letter task gives you a role and a situation: write to a bank branch about a service failure, to a newspaper editor about a civic issue, to an office to request or enquire about something, or an application for a post. The reader is always someone with the power to act, and your one goal is to get that action.
Because the form is fixed, the letter is the most predictable marks in the descriptive paper — if you know the layout and keep the body tight, a clean letter is quick to write.
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