A useful B1 email does more than contain about 100 words. It responds to the message in front of you, deals with the notes and gives the reader enough detail to understand your choices. A flexible plan can help, but a memorised email cannot know what the current task asks.
In B1 Preliminary Writing Part 1, you write an email of about 100 words, responding to an email and notes. The task has a maximum of 20 marks. Writing is a separate 45-minute paper, and you must also complete Part 2 within that time.
The four examples below are “graded” with our teaching labels: weak, developing, good and excellent. These labels compare how well the answers do their job. They are not official examiner grades, predicted marks or a guarantee of an exam outcome. All prompts and answers are original.
What the four assessment areas mean
The official assessment names are Content, Communicative Achievement, Organisation and Language. Here is our practical explanation of what to look for when reviewing an email.
| Area | A question to ask yourself |
|---|---|
| Content | Have I answered every note and given the reader relevant information? |
| Communicative Achievement | Does this sound like the right kind of email for this reader and purpose? |
| Organisation | Can the reader follow the order, paragraphs and connections? |
| Language | Do my vocabulary and grammar express the ideas with suitable range and control? |
These areas overlap in the reading experience. An unclear sentence may hide a required point, and an unnecessary paragraph may interrupt the organisation. Still, separating them during review helps you decide what to fix first.
Use the B1 Preliminary guide for the full exam structure and the Writing Lab for article and story guidance too.
Original task: a Saturday at the coast
Read this email from your friend Maya. Write an email answering Maya and the four notes.
Hi!
I’m planning a trip to the coast with a few friends next Saturday. I think going by train would be easiest. What do you think?
We need to decide about lunch. Should we bring a picnic or eat in a café? The forecast is uncertain, so what could we do if it rains?
Let me know if there’s anything you want to ask about the arrangements.
Maya
Your notes:
- Agree about the train and give a reason.
- Suggest a lunch plan.
- Suggest an activity for wet weather.
- Ask Maya what time to meet.
Write about 100 words. Before reading the examples, make four decisions of your own. Keep them short: “train less tiring; café; aquarium; meeting time”. Your details can differ from every model here.
A flexible 100-word template
Think of a template as a sequence of jobs. Begin with a greeting and a natural response to the plan. Group related practical points, give a reason or useful detail, ask the required question and close appropriately.
- Opening: “Thanks for…” or “That sounds…” when it responds naturally to the message.
- First answer and reason: “I agree that… because…”
- Another practical answer: “For lunch, we could…”
- Alternative or condition: “If it rains,…”
- Required question: “What time should we…?”
- Ending: a brief friendly closing suited to the relationship.
Change this order if another arrangement is clearer. Do not force every email into the same sentences. In particular, a reason should explain your actual choice rather than fill space with “because it is very good and interesting”.
The suggested length helps you give enough detail without turning the task into an essay. It is a guide, not a hard limit. The word counter provides a convenient length reminder and a checklist, but it cannot assess these four areas for you.
Example 1: weak
Original answer · 57 words
Content: this mostly describes general feelings and a previous trip. It does not give a reason for the train, choose lunch, suggest a wet-weather activity or ask about the meeting time. Mentioning “lunch” is not the same as making a lunch plan.
Communicative Achievement: the greeting and friendly tone fit a friend, but the email does not organise the trip effectively. Organisation: the ideas follow a loose sequence without moving through the requested decisions. Language: basic sentences are understandable, but repeated “good” and “nice” give little precise meaning.
The first revision should replace unrelated background with the four required responses. Adding words to this version without changing its focus would not solve the main problem.
Example 2: developing
Original answer · 91 words
Content: all four notes receive a relevant response. The aquarium idea and lift explanation help the reader. Communicative Achievement: the message sounds like a practical email to a friend and generally achieves that purpose.
Organisation: the ideas are grouped sensibly into transport and lunch, then the alternative activity and question. Language: repeated errors reduce control: use “thanks for inviting”, “easier”, “nobody needs”, “can eat”, “if it rains” and “What time should we meet?”
This version has a stronger foundation than the weak example because it answers the task. Work on a few recurring patterns instead of rewriting everything with more advanced words. Correcting “can + base verb” would improve several future messages.
Example 3: good
Original answer · 95 words
Content: the reader gets a clear response to every note, with useful reasons. Communicative Achievement: the friendly tone and direct suggestions fit the situation. It is easy for Maya to use the information.
Organisation: short paragraphs group the opening and transport, the day’s activities, and the practical question. Connections such as “because”, “if” and “so” express real relationships. Language: comparisons, present perfect and modal forms give variety while remaining controlled.
This answer does not need a dramatic phrase or an unusual synonym. Its strength is that the language supports the decisions. For your own draft, check whether every added detail helps the recipient in the same way.
Example 4: excellent as a learning model
Original answer · 100 words
Content: every note is answered with specific, relevant development. Communicative Achievement: natural enthusiasm, suggestions and a practical question work together as a friendly planning email. The reader is engaged without being distracted.
Organisation: related points flow through the paragraphs, and the closing returns to the purpose. Language: expressions such as “gets my vote”, a suggestion with “Why don’t we…?” and a conditional alternative add variety with control.
“Excellent” describes this model’s usefulness for the exercise. It does not mean candidates must use idioms or that this wording guarantees full marks. A clear answer in your own reliable language is a better goal than copying phrases you cannot adapt.
What the word counts tell you
All displayed counts were checked with the site’s counting script. Greetings and sign-offs are included; contractions and hyphenated words count as one. A different counting convention can vary slightly, so avoid treating an exact number as the main target.
The weak answer is short partly because it fails to develop the required content. That does not mean adding unrelated sentences would make it strong. The better answers use their space for decisions, reasons and the question Maya needs to answer.
When editing, ask which sentence could be removed without losing anything useful. Then ask whether a missing note needs a sentence of its own. These questions keep length connected to purpose.
A revision routine you can repeat
First, number the four task notes and find the response to each in your draft. Second, check the relationship and tone. Third, group connected ideas into paragraphs. Finally, review verb patterns, tense, articles and the wording of questions.
Choose one recurring error to practise separately. Our Vocabulary & Grammar guide covers common mistakes, while the irregular verbs drill supports form recall. Return to the email afterwards to make sure the correction works in context.
For a fresh attempt, keep the four planning jobs but change the outing to a visit to a science centre. Decide transport, lunch, a backup activity and one practical question. This is an extension exercise, not an additional official-style task with a fixed model answer.
Key takeaways
- Respond to every note before adding unrelated detail.
- Use about 100 words as a guide, with reasons that help the reader.
- Review Content, Communicative Achievement, Organisation and Language separately.
- Treat templates as flexible plans and model labels as teaching feedback.
For the latest task requirements, check the official B1 Preliminary format page. All task material and answers here are original.