litumi
C1 · Advanced35 min

How to write a formal email or letter for C1 Advanced

Syllabus topic 6: How to write a formal email or letter for C1 Advanced

220–260 words · Formal email. You represent a student association considering a venue partnership. The venue offers a free room on weekday evenings but requires all events to finish by eight and gives no details about accessible entry or cancellations. Write to the manager expressing interest, explaining how the closing time affects your group and requesting clarification before committing.

Your writing task

Write 220–260 words. You represent a student association considering a venue partnership. The venue offers a free room on weekday evenings but requires all events to finish by eight and gives no details about accessible entry or cancellations. Write to the manager expressing interest, explaining how the closing time affects your group and requesting clarification before committing.

Writing focus

Diplomatic writing can still be direct. State the practical consequence of a condition, then ask for clarification or a specific alternative.

Independent practice. Format reference: Cambridge English: C1 Advanced format.

Your progress

Ready to move on?

Mark this lesson as studied when you have finished the explanation.

My plan

Plan, write, revise

Suggested structure

  1. Explain the proposed partnership and your interest.
  2. Discuss the timing constraint and request essential information.
  3. Suggest a next step without making an unapproved commitment.

Useful language

  • We would welcome the opportunity to explore…
  • Before we can make a commitment,…
  • Would you be willing to consider…?

Use these phrases if they fit your ideas. There is no single correct response.

0 words · Suggested: 220–260Restoring your draft…

220 more words to reach the suggested range.

Review your draft

This is guided self-review, not automatic grading. The word range is a guide. Editing your text clears the checklist so you can review the new version; previous lesson completion stays in your history.

See an illustrative response

Dear Ms Morgan, Thank you for offering our student association the use of a meeting room on weekday evenings. We would welcome the opportunity to explore a partnership, particularly as a regular venue could make our activities easier for new members to find. Before we can make a commitment, however, we would appreciate clarification of several practical points. Your message states that events must finish by eight. Many of our members have classes or work commitments until early evening, so this would limit the length of some sessions. Could you confirm whether the deadline includes the time needed to clear the room? We would also be interested in discussing occasional earlier sessions if those could accommodate members with different schedules. In addition, please provide details of accessible entry and the facilities available to visitors who cannot use stairs. We would need this information when advertising events, rather than leaving participants to discover restrictions on arrival. Finally, could you explain the cancellation arrangements for both parties? In particular, it would be helpful to know how much notice would be given if the venue became unavailable. Once we have these details, I can present a clear proposal to our committee. If convenient, we could then arrange a short meeting to discuss a trial period. We appreciate your offer and hope to identify an arrangement that is workable for everyone involved. Yours sincerely, Jamie Lee

This example illustrates structure and tone and may be shorter than the suggested range. Develop your own response.

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