Email tasks are usually the second, shorter task on the paper – a complaint to a company, a request to a manager, a reply to an advert – and they are marked exactly like letters. This free pack gives you a complaint email and a request email in exam layout, with the marking grids explained and a model answer showing how to hit every strand.
Free to download, print and share for personal or classroom use. Answers included.
What’s in this worksheet
- Know-the-format box for this text type
- Task 1 in Pearson exam layout (Information box, bullet points, word count, marks)
- Task 2 in Highfield exam layout (notes stimulus)
- Planning grid and lined answer space for both tasks
- Plain-English version of the official marking grids
- Indicative content list for Task 1
- 241-word model answer with examiner notes
Common mistakes on this topic
From our tutors’ marking and the most recent examiner reports – check your work against these:
- Leaving the Subject line blank or vague (‘Complaint’). Make it specific.
- Ranting: ‘disgusting’, ‘a joke’, ‘useless’. Emotive insults lose register marks; facts and dates win.
- Describing what went wrong at length and then forgetting to say what you want done – bullet 2 is half the task.
- Signing off ‘Thanks’ or ‘Cheers’. Keep the email as formal as a letter.
How to use it
- Read the ‘Know the format’ box, then do Task 1 under exam conditions – 5 minutes planning, the rest writing, timed as the task box says.
- Mark yourself against the grid and the indicative content list. Be honest about which band each strand lands in.
- Read the model answer and its notes, then rewrite your weakest paragraph. Do Task 2 a few days later without looking at the model.
Related free resources
- Formal Letter – Exam-Style Writing Tasks (Functional Skills Level 2)
- Article – Exam-Style Writing Tasks (Functional Skills Level 2)
- Plan a Functional Skills Writing Task in 5 Minutes – Free Planning Sheet
- All free Functional Skills English Level 2 resources
Frequently asked questions
How formal does an email need to be in the Functional Skills exam?
As formal as a letter, unless the task clearly says it is to a friend. Full sentences, paragraphs, a greeting and sign-off, no text-speak. The examiner marks the same grids for emails and letters.
What should the subject line of an exam email say?
What the email is about, specifically: ‘Complaint about order 48211 – late delivery and missing part’. A clear subject line is part of the format marks.
How do I end a complaint email?
With what you want, by when, and what you will do if it does not happen – politely. Then ‘I look forward to your reply’ and a formal sign-off with your full name.
Want a tutor to mark your work? Not sure where you stand? Take the free 15-minute mini mock test. Ready to get qualified? Our live 10-week Functional Skills Level 2 English course runs in small groups with a mock exam included, and the 5-day revision course is there if your exam is close.