10 Letter Practice Questions with Answers | Cambridge C1 Advanced
In Part 2 of the Cambridge C1 Advanced (CAE) Writing paper, you choose one task from a list, and a letter or email is one of the options. You read a situation, then write a formal letter of 220 to 260 words. This post gives you 10 C1 Advanced letter practice questions with model answers. Each answer is written at C1 level and shows how to open with the right greeting, set out a clear case or request, and close with a matched sign-off.
Letter 1
An international current-affairs magazine has published an article claiming that important innovation occurs only in large cities. Write a letter to the editor challenging this view. Describe one example of innovation in a rural area, explain why it matters, and suggest how the magazine could give a more balanced account in future.
Write your letter or email in 220 to 260 words.
Model answer
Dear Editor,
Your recent article on innovation argued that major advances depend on the density of large cities. This overlooks work driven by the very conditions found outside them.
In my region, several farms have created a shared soil-monitoring network. Small sensors record moisture and temperature at different depths, while a cooperative platform combines the results with local weather data. Instead of each farmer buying an expensive commercial system, members contribute observations and decide together when irrigation is genuinely necessary. The approach has reduced water use and helped farms compare how different soils respond to the same dry period.
This example matters beyond agriculture. It demonstrates that innovation can arise from distance, limited resources and practical cooperation. The network also treats farmers as investigators rather than passive customers of urban technology companies. Its methods are now being adapted for nearby woodland management.
I suggest commissioning a short series in which correspondents begin with a problem rather than a postcode. One article might compare rural transport experiments, another remote health services, and a third land-based environmental monitoring. Contributors should include local users as well as outside experts. Such reporting would also reveal where investment and policy remain concentrated.
Cities undoubtedly concentrate research institutions and investment. However, presenting them as the sole source of new ideas narrows readers' understanding of both innovation and rural life.
Yours faithfully, A reader
Letter 2
You booked accessibility assistance for an important rail journey, but the service was cancelled shortly before you travelled. Write a letter to the railway company's accessibility manager describing what happened and how it affected your journey. Ask the manager to investigate, and recommend how passengers should be supported when booked assistance becomes unavailable.
Write your letter or email in 220 to 260 words.
Model answer
Dear Accessibility Manager,
I am writing about the assistance I had booked for my rail journey from Leeds to Edinburgh on 6 May, which was cancelled shortly before I travelled.
I had reserved help to board the train and to change platforms at the interchange, because I use a wheelchair and cannot manage steps or wide gaps on my own. About twenty minutes before departure, I received a text message saying that no staff were available, but no alternative was offered. When I reached the station, the platform lift was out of order and no staff were at the assistance point. In the end, another passenger helped me onto a later train, but I missed my connection and arrived almost two hours late for a medical appointment that the journey had been planned around.
The main problem was not only that staff were unavailable, but that there was no backup arrangement once the booking was cancelled. As a result, I was left to manage on a busy platform without any support.
I would be grateful if you would investigate why the assistance was cancelled so late and why no replacement was arranged, and confirm what happened to my booking record.
To help other passengers in future, I would recommend that any cancellation of booked assistance is followed by a phone call rather than only a text, and that staff offer a clear alternative, such as another member of staff, a taxi to an accessible station, or a guaranteed place on the next service.
Yours sincerely,
R. Menon
Letter 3
An international current-affairs magazine published an article you had contributed, but shortened it without consulting you. Several qualifications essential to your argument were removed. Write a letter to the editor explaining how the changes affected the article's meaning, requesting an appropriate correction, and suggesting how substantial edits should be agreed with contributors in future.
Write your letter or email in 220 to 260 words.
Model answer
Dear Editor,
I am writing about the shortened version of my article on volunteer-collected environmental data in your latest issue. I accepted that minor cuts might be necessary, but the published text removes two qualifications that are central to my argument.
The original article stated that volunteer observations can reveal useful long-term patterns when participants follow consistent methods and professional researchers check unusual results. In the printed version, these conditions have disappeared. The article therefore appears to claim that any collection of public observations is automatically reliable. A later paragraph explaining that such projects supplement rather than replace professional monitoring was also removed. Readers may consequently interpret a cautious assessment as an unreserved endorsement.
I ask the magazine to publish a correction in the next issue and attach it prominently to the online article. The note should restore both conditions and make clear that the omissions occurred during editing. Simply reinstating the sentences online would not reach readers of the printed version.
For future contributions, I suggest that editors send authors any revision that removes evidence, limitations or conclusions, with a short deadline for approval. This need not delay routine copy-editing. A tracked version and a brief explanation of major cuts would be sufficient.
I value the magazine's ability to make complex subjects accessible. A visible correction and a clearer approval process would protect that strength while ensuring that accessibility does not come at the expense of accuracy.
Yours faithfully, A contributor
Letter 4
Your family lent an object to a museum exhibition, but you now need it for an important family occasion before the agreed loan ends. Write an email to the museum's collections manager explaining the situation and timing, requesting the object's safe early return, and offering an alternative that would reduce disruption to the exhibition.
Write your letter or email in 220 to 260 words.
Model answer
Dear Collections Manager,
I am writing about the object my family lent to your current exhibition, which we now need to borrow back for a short time before the loan officially ends.
Our loan agreement runs until September, but a significant family occasion has been arranged for 12 July, and the object plays an important part in it. We had not expected the date to fall within the loan period, and we would very much like to have the object present for the occasion.
I understand that removing an item early can disrupt an exhibition, and I want to make this as easy as possible for you. I would therefore ask whether the object could be safely returned to us for two weeks in July and then reinstalled afterwards, with transport and handling arranged through the museum in the usual way. We are happy to cover any additional costs this involves.
To reduce the effect on your display, we could provide a good-quality photograph and a short explanatory label to fill the gap while the object is away, so that visitors still understand what normally sits there.
I would be grateful if you would let me know whether this is possible and what arrangements you would need from us. I am glad to discuss suitable dates and any conditions that would protect the object.
Yours sincerely,
L. Fischer
Letter 5
An equipment-hire company replaced the air-quality sensors you reserved for a community research project with a different model without informing you. Write to the customer-resolution manager explaining how the substitution affected data continuity, requesting an appropriate remedy and technical records, and recommending how substitutions should be approved in future.
Write your letter or email in 220 to 260 words.
Model answer
Dear Customer-Resolution Manager,
I am writing about order AQ-184, for twelve Model R air-quality sensors hired for our four-week community study. On collection, your staff supplied Model S units instead, without notifying our project coordinator or seeking approval.
The replacement devices record particulate matter at different intervals and apply an internal correction that is incompatible with the first week's Model R readings. We therefore cannot compare measurements across all neighbourhood sites as planned. Volunteers also lost a day repeating setup because the mounting points and software were different.
Please refund the charge for the affected week and provide the complete calibration certificates, correction method and raw export specification for every Model S unit. If your technical team can supply a validated conversion procedure, we may be able to preserve part of the dataset. Otherwise, we request four additional hire days at no cost so that the missing locations can be measured consistently.
Future substitutions should require written approval from the named project contact. The notice must compare measurement range, sampling interval, calibration status, software format and physical connections, rather than describing equipment merely as equivalent. If approval cannot be obtained, customers should be offered a later collection or a full refund before dispatch.
I would appreciate the technical records and your proposed remedy within five working days, as our analysis schedule is already under pressure.
Yours faithfully, Maya Chen
Letter 6
You want to join an advanced university course but do not hold one formal prerequisite. You have substantial professional experience covering similar skills. Write to the admissions coordinator explaining that experience, requesting an individual assessment of your eligibility, and offering suitable evidence or an additional test.
Write your letter or email in 220 to 260 words.
Model answer
Dear Admissions Coordinator,
I am writing to ask whether my application for the Advanced Data Analysis course could be considered even though I do not hold one of the formal entry requirements.
The course lists an undergraduate statistics module as a prerequisite, which I did not take. However, I have worked for six years as a research analyst, and my daily work covers the same skills that the module is intended to provide. I regularly design surveys, clean and model large datasets, and present statistical results to colleagues who are not specialists. In my current role I also train two junior analysts in exactly these methods.
I would be grateful if you would assess my eligibility individually, rather than on the prerequisite alone. I appreciate that experience must be checked rather than simply accepted, and I am happy to provide evidence to support it.
To make that straightforward, I could supply a detailed description of my responsibilities, a reference from my manager, and examples of analytical work I have produced. If the department would prefer a more direct measure, I would willingly sit a short assessment or entry test in the relevant areas.
I am confident that I can meet the demands of the course, and I would welcome the chance to show this. Please let me know what evidence or assessment you would find most useful.
Yours sincerely,
D. Owusu
Letter 7
Plans for a town-centre redevelopment would remove a distinctive public clock that residents have long used as a meeting point. Write a letter to the project director explaining the clock's practical and cultural value, acknowledging the aims of the redevelopment, and requesting that the clock be preserved in place or relocated sensitively.
Write your letter or email in 220 to 260 words.
Model answer
Dear Project Director,
I am writing about the plans for the town-centre redevelopment, and in particular the proposal to remove the public clock in Market Square.
I understand that the redevelopment aims to improve access and make better use of the space, and I support those goals. However, I would ask you to reconsider the removal of the clock, which has a value that is easy to underestimate.
For many residents, the clock is the main meeting point in the town centre. People arrange to meet under the clock without needing to explain further, and older residents in particular rely on it as a clear and familiar landmark. Removing it would take away a point of reference that the community has used for decades.
The clock also has a cultural importance. It was installed to mark the town's history, and it appears in local photographs, guides and memories. A redevelopment that keeps it would feel like an improvement to the town rather than a break with its past.
I would therefore be grateful if you would either preserve the clock in its present position or, if that is genuinely impossible, relocate it carefully to a nearby spot where it can still serve as a meeting point. I would welcome the chance to discuss how this might fit within the wider plans.
Yours sincerely,
C. Bianchi
Letter 8
You bought a ticket for an all-day event whose original terms allowed visitors to leave and re-enter. The organiser has now prohibited re-entry, but you must leave briefly because of a caring responsibility. Write an email to the ticketing manager explaining how you relied on the original terms, describing the practical problem, and requesting both a fair arrangement for your visit and clearer handling of future changes.
Write your letter or email in 220 to 260 words.
Model answer
Dear Ticketing Manager,
I am writing about my ticket for the all-day festival on 20 July, and a recent change to the re-entry rules that now causes me a serious difficulty.
When I bought my ticket, the terms clearly stated that visitors could leave and re-enter during the day. I relied on this, because I care for my elderly father and need to leave the site briefly in the early afternoon to give him his medication before returning. The event runs for ten hours, and leaving for a short period was the only way I could attend at all.
I have now seen that the organiser has prohibited re-entry. This was not the arrangement I agreed to when I paid, and it makes it very hard for me to stay for the event I booked.
I would be grateful if you would make a fair arrangement in my case, for example by allowing me a single supervised re-entry on presentation of my ticket and identification. I am happy to give advance notice and to follow any reasonable check at the gate.
I would also ask that changes of this kind be handled more clearly in future. When conditions that visitors have relied on are altered after purchase, ticket-holders should be told directly and offered a choice, rather than discovering the change by chance.
Yours sincerely,
S. Nkemelu
Letter 9
Your professional association has published your private contact details in its member directory even though you opted out. Write a letter to the membership director requesting urgent removal and confirmation, explaining the possible consequences, and asking the association to audit how the error occurred and prevent similar disclosures.
Write your letter or email in 220 to 260 words.
Model answer
Dear Membership Director,
I am writing to report that my private contact details have been published in the association's online member directory, even though I clearly opted out of appearing there.
When I renewed my membership, I selected the option to keep my address, telephone number and personal email address private. Despite this, all three now appear in the public directory. I would ask you to remove them urgently and to confirm in writing once this has been done.
I am concerned about the possible consequences. My details are now visible to anyone who can reach the directory, and they may already have been copied or saved elsewhere. Because I opted out for reasons of personal safety, this disclosure is not a minor administrative matter, and every additional day it remains online increases the risk to me.
Beyond my own case, I would be grateful if the association would look into how the error occurred. It is important to know whether other members who opted out have been affected in the same way, and whether the fault lies in the renewal form, the directory system or the transfer of data between them.
Finally, I would ask what steps the association will take to prevent this happening again, such as checking privacy settings before the directory is published. I would appreciate a prompt reply confirming the removal and explaining what you have found.
Yours sincerely,
J. Halvorsen
Letter 10
You bought a ticket for a large event before the organiser announced that facial recognition would be used for entry. Write an email to the organiser's privacy officer explaining your concerns about consent and access, requesting a practical alternative and deletion of any image already submitted, and recommending how future visitors should be informed and offered a choice.
Write your letter or email in 220 to 260 words.
Model answer
Dear Privacy Officer,
I am writing about my ticket for the concert on 3 August, which I bought before the organiser announced that facial recognition would be used to control entry.
When I purchased my ticket, there was no mention of facial recognition, and I did not agree to have my image scanned in this way. I am concerned about both consent and access. I would not have bought the ticket had I known, and I am worried that anyone who declines the scan may be delayed or refused entry to an event they have already paid for.
I would be grateful if you would provide a practical alternative for entry, such as a staffed gate where my printed ticket and identification can be checked instead, which many venues already provide for people who prefer not to be scanned. If any image of me has already been submitted or collected, I would ask that it be deleted, and that you confirm this has been done.
I would also recommend a change to how future visitors are treated. People should be told at the point of sale, not afterwards, that facial recognition will be used, and they should be offered a clear alternative without penalty. That way, visitors can decide whether to attend before they pay, rather than discovering the requirement once they have already committed.
Yours sincerely,
T. Nakamura