Component 1 - Writing a letter
A letter can contain the perfect greeting and still fail: its recipient may finish reading with no reason to think, feel or act differently. This lesson shows how conventions, register, content, organisation and technical control work together in the 45-mark Component 1 task, where AO4 is worth 27 marks and AO5 is worth 18. The response is predominantly continuous prose, not a decorative address layout or a memorised persuasive template.
Start with AO4 — Adapting tone and register. Use AO5 — Technical accuracy and deliberate control alongside the worked drafts and revision in this lesson. The short checks practise individual decisions; complete 45-mark tasks are separate sustained practice.
Read the letter situation
In Section B, you choose one of two transactional prompts and write one 45-mark response. A
prompt gives you a command, a reader, a purpose and a form. Those details are
not wrapping around a topic; they determine the writing.
Consider this invented situation:
A local newspaper has published an editorial arguing that teenagers should not be allowed
to use the town centre after 8 p.m. Write a letter to the editor persuading the newspaper's
adult readers that a blanket restriction is unfair.
The topic is evening access, but the writing problem is more exact:
| Decision | What the situation establishes | Consequence for the letter |
|---|---|---|
| Command | Write and persuade | Develop a case rather than merely describe the issue. |
| Reader | The editor directly; adult newspaper readers indirectly | Sound credible to a potentially doubtful audience. |
| Purpose | Challenge a blanket restriction | Give reasons, address a reasonable concern and seek a change of view. |
| Form | Letter | Address an identifiable recipient and use a fitting greeting, ending and relationship. |
If you saw only the topic, you might list everything you know about teenagers. If you read the
whole situation, you would ask a sharper question: what would make this particular reader
reconsider a blanket rule?
Conventions that show the relationship
A greeting and ending are useful because they locate the relationship immediately. They must
match each other and the named situation.
| Relationship in the task | Fitting opening | Fitting ending |
|---|---|---|
| Unknown formal recipient | Dear Sir or Madam, | Yours faithfully, |
| Named formal recipient | Dear Dr Ahmed, | Yours sincerely, |
| Friend or peer | Dear Jamal, | Best wishes, |
These are familiar conventions, not separately priced features in the examination grid. Other consistent greetings and endings may fit a particular relationship. A date can be used where it suits the letter. Sender and recipient addresses, however, are not
required, nor is a special address layout. A greeting cannot compensate for an undeveloped
letter; it simply begins the relationship accurately.
Calibrate the voice for the reader
Register is the set of language choices that fits a relationship and situation. It includes
what you assume the reader knows, how directly you speak, the vocabulary you choose and how
you shape sentences. It is not a switch between slang and long words.
Here is one core message in an invented situation:
The school library should remain open until 6 p.m. because students with long journeys need
a quiet place to finish work.
Watch what changes when the reader changes, even though the central request stays stable.
| Reader | Opening paragraph | Why it fits |
|---|---|---|
| A friend who shares the problem | Dear Sam, You know how rushed the last bus makes our study time. Could you support the idea of keeping the library open until six so we can finish work before travelling home? | Shared knowledge permits warmth and directness. |
| The named headteacher | Dear Dr Chen, I am writing to ask whether the library could remain open until 6 p.m. for a four-week trial. This would give students with long journeys a dependable place to complete work before travelling home. | The request is courteous, specific and linked to a responsibility the headteacher can act on. |
| An unknown newspaper editor | Dear Sir or Madam, I am writing to raise a practical barrier faced by students with long journeys: the lack of a quiet study space after the library closes. Extending access until 6 p.m. deserves serious consideration. | The writer supplies context for an unknown reader and adopts a public-facing voice. |
The headteacher version is not stronger because it is more formal. It is stronger for that
reader because it names a feasible trial, supplies a relevant reason and avoids pretending
that the reader already agrees.
Repair the opening, not just the vocabulary
An opening such as I am writing about the library. This is a really good idea and lots of people want it is grammatically possible but strategically empty. Replacing really good
with highly advantageous would only make the vagueness grander.
A useful opening normally settles three matters quickly:
- why this recipient is being addressed;
- what position, request or concern the letter will develop;
- why the issue matters in terms the recipient can recognise.
Develop the purpose for the recipient
A purpose is not a label added to the plan. It changes the movement of the content.
| Letter purpose | Productive movement | Likely destination |
|---|---|---|
| Request | establish a need, show a benefit, answer a feasibility concern | a specific action or reply |
| Complain | identify the precise problem, show its effect, support the account fairly | a remedy, review or investigation |
| Apply | connect relevant experience and qualities to the opportunity | consideration, an interview or a next stage |
| Advise | recognise the recipient's situation, then sequence workable steps | confidence about the next action |
| Persuade | state a defensible position, develop reasons and address resistance | changed view, support or action |
This is why no fixed list of persuasive devices fits every task. Direct address can make a
responsibility immediate. An anecdote can give a human scale to a problem. Evidence can make
a reason testable. A rhetorical question may sharpen an issue, but it can also sound
accusatory. Tripling can gather three genuinely distinct benefits, but it cannot turn one
repeated idea into three. A counterargument earns its place only when it answers something a
thoughtful recipient might actually believe.
Choose the move that can survive the reader
Suppose a community centre is already open on Saturday mornings and has one bookable room.
You are writing to its named manager, Ms Iqbal, asking for a six-week trial in which pupils may
use that room for quiet study. You know she may be concerned about cost and supervision.
Continue this lesson.
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