The BECE English composition can ask for a letter. The form is part of the mark. A clear message in the wrong layout still loses the layout credit. This page shows the three layouts students are taught, with a shortened letter for each one. It does not promise that a particular question will appear.
Which letter the question wants
Read the question before you choose a tone. A letter to a headteacher, a director or an editor is formal. A letter to a classmate or a close friend is informal. A letter to someone you know, who still deserves respect, is semi formal: an uncle, a family friend, a teacher you address by name.
The question usually names the reader. That name decides the salutation and the close. Do not mix the forms. A letter that starts Dear Sir and ends Lots of love has confused them.
BECE English letter writing practiceBECE English essay writing practice
Where each part goes
Use the same order every time, and change only the parts the form changes. Your address and the date never move.
Your address
At the top, on the right. A house number or a landmark, the street, the town. Formal, informal and semi formal letters all keep it.
The date
Under your address. Write it in full, such as 12 March. Do not leave it out to save a line.
The recipient's address
On the left, after the date. A formal letter needs the person's office and where they are. A semi formal letter often includes it too. An informal letter to a friend leaves this block out.
The salutation
Dear Sir or Dear Madam when you do not know the name. Dear and then the surname with a title when you do, such as Dear Mrs Boateng. Dear and a first name for a friend, such as Dear Kwesi. Dear Uncle Yaw for a semi formal letter to a relative.
The heading
A short title of what the letter is about, after the salutation. Formal letters usually carry one. Informal letters usually do not.
The body
Paragraphs. The first says why you are writing. The middle gives the details in an order the reader can use. The last says what you want done. One idea in each paragraph.
The close and your name
Yours faithfully after Dear Sir or Dear Madam. Yours sincerely after a named person. Your friend, or Yours ever, after a letter to a friend. Full name on a formal or semi formal letter. First name on an informal letter.
Formal letter
Write a formal letter to someone you address by office or by a title you would use in public: the headteacher, the editor of a newspaper, the director of a company. The tone is polite and plain. You do not joke, you do not use slang, and you do not ask about the reader's family.
If you do not know the person's name, salute Dear Sir or Dear Madam and close Yours faithfully. If you know the name, salute Dear Mr Mensah or Dear Mrs Boateng and close Yours sincerely. Sign, and write your full name under the signature.
A formal letter, annotated
This letter asks a headteacher for permission. Each block is labelled so you can see where it sits. A full answer develops the middle. This one is shortened so the shape is easy to see.
House 14 Independence Avenue Accra
Your address. Place it at the top, on the right. Every letter on this page keeps your address.
12 March
The date, under your address. A letter with no date loses layout credit even when the message is clear.
The Headteacher Bright Future JHS Accra
The recipient's address, on the left. A formal letter includes the office and the school, not only a name.
Dear Sir,
The salutation. You did not use a personal name, so the close will be Yours faithfully. Dear Madam is the same kind of opening.
REQUEST TO START A READING CLUB
A heading. It names the subject before the body starts. A formal letter usually carries one. An informal letter to a friend usually does not.
I am writing to ask permission to start a reading club for JHS pupils.
The first paragraph states why you are writing. It does not ask after the reader's family.
The club would meet once a week after classes, in the library, with a teacher present. We would read one story book a month and talk about it.
The middle gives the details, in an order the reader can act on. One point in the paragraph, then the next point in the next paragraph.
I hope you will allow us to begin next term. I am ready to discuss a day and a time that suits the school.
The last paragraph says what you want done, once, and politely. It does not start a new request.
Yours faithfully,
The close that matches Dear Sir or Dear Madam. If the salutation had been Dear Mrs Boateng, the close would be Yours sincerely.
Ama Mensah
Your full name under the signature. A formal letter does not end with a first name only.
Informal letter
Write an informal letter to a friend or to someone your own age you know well. Keep your address and the date. Leave out the recipient's address block and the formal heading. A warm first paragraph is right. The body is still in paragraphs, because a marker has to see the shape.
Close with Your friend, Yours ever, or another warm ending you would actually use, and your first name. Do not close with Yours faithfully. That pair belongs to Dear Sir.
An informal letter, annotated
This letter tells a friend about a class trip. The writer's address and the date stay. The formal recipient block goes. The tone is warm, and the paragraphs still have jobs.
House 14 Independence Avenue Accra
Your address still sits at the top, on the right. Leaving it out is a layout miss on an informal letter too.
12 March
The date, under your address.
Dear Kwesi,
A first name, because this is a friend. There is no recipient address block above it.
How are you, and how is your sister? I have wanted to tell you about our class trip.
A warm opening is right here. The same sentence is wrong in a letter to a headteacher, because that letter must state a formal purpose first.
We went to the botanical garden. I saw trees I cannot name, and I kept a leaf to show you. The guide said the oldest tree was older than the school.
The news, in its own paragraph. One block of text with no break hides the shape.
Write and tell me when I can visit. I miss our evening talks.
The close of the body expects a reply. It is still a paragraph, not a scribble under the signature.
Your friend, Ama
A warm close and a first name. Yours faithfully does not belong on a letter to a friend. Yours ever, is another close teachers accept when the tone stays friendly.
Semi formal letter
A semi formal letter sits between the other two. The person knows you, and you still owe them a sign of respect. Think of an uncle, an aunt, a family friend, or a teacher you know by name rather than only as an office.
Keep your address and the date. Include the recipient's address if that is how your teacher taught the form. Use the person's name in the salutation, so the close is Yours sincerely, or a respectful warm close such as Yours affectionately. The body can greet them and must still say why you wrote. Your full name goes under the signature.
A semi formal letter, annotated
A semi formal letter goes to someone you know who still deserves a title or a sign of respect: an uncle, a family friend, a teacher you know by name. You are not writing to a stranger in an office, and you are not writing to a classmate.
House 14 Independence Avenue Accra
Your address, at the top, on the right, as in the other two letters.
12 March
The date, under your address.
Uncle Yaw Mensah Community Library Accra
Many teachers expect the recipient's address on a semi formal letter, because the layout is closer to a formal letter than to a note. If your teacher has taught you to include it, include it.
Dear Uncle Yaw,
You use the name or the relationship. You know him, so you do not write Dear Sir. Dear Mrs Owusu is the same kind of opening when the person is a teacher you know by name.
I hope you and Aunty are well. I am writing to ask for your advice about a reading club our school wants to start.
The tone is warm and still polite. A greeting is allowed. The purpose is in the same opening, so the letter does not wander.
You ran a club at church, and I would like to know how you chose the books and how you kept the younger readers quiet. A short note, or a few minutes when I visit, would help me.
The details are specific. A semi formal letter still needs paragraphs and a real request.
Yours sincerely, Ama Mensah
The close matches a named person: Yours sincerely. Yours faithfully is for Dear Sir or Dear Madam. Yours affectionately is a warmer close when the relationship is close and still respectful. Lots of love is the informal end, and it is the wrong register for a request to an uncle unless that is truly how your family writes. When you are unsure, Yours sincerely is the safe close. Use your full name.
Common mistakes
These are the misses that cost credit before a marker even judges the ideas. Check them when you read the letter again.
The close does not match the salutation
Dear Sir and Dear Madam take Yours faithfully. A named person, Dear Mrs Boateng or Dear Uncle Yaw, takes Yours sincerely. Mixing the pair is a layout error even when the body is good.
A formal letter opens like a chat
How are you and the family is the opening of an informal letter. A letter to a headteacher or an editor begins with the reason you wrote.
The address or the date is missing
Your address goes at the top, on the right, and the date goes under it. A formal letter also needs the recipient's address on the left. Each missing item can cost layout credit on its own.
The whole letter is one block
Paragraphs show the plan. An opening, a middle and a close are the minimum. One block hides the organisation, and organisation is credited apart from the ideas.
The tone belongs to a different letter
Slang in a letter to a headteacher costs expression. Yours faithfully at the end of a letter to a friend costs layout. Lots of love at the end of a formal letter does both.
The name under the signature is the wrong one
A formal letter and a semi formal letter need your full name. An informal letter can end with your first name. A signature with no name at all makes the marker guess who wrote.
How the letter is marked
Layout is credited apart from what you say. A missing date, a missing address, or the wrong close for the salutation can each cost layout credit. The body is then read for the same kinds of credit as a composition.
Markers usually look at four kinds of credit, and they are not the same kind. Content is what you say, and whether it does the task for the audience you were given. Organisation is the order of the paragraphs, and whether a reader can see where one point ends. Expression is the English itself: the words, the sentences, and a tone that fits the form. Mechanical accuracy is spelling, punctuation and grammar.
A lively piece written as one block can still lose organisation. A neat piece that ignores the question can still lose content. A formal letter that sounds like a chat with a friend can lose expression even when the facts are right. Read the work again for the errors you know you make, after the shape is in place.
WAEC sets the exact split for a paper in the marking scheme for that paper. This page does not copy those numbers. A copied table goes stale, and a number this page invented would teach the wrong target. When you need the official split, read the scheme WAEC issues. Start from the WAEC Ghana site. If a figure you were taught and the scheme disagree, follow the scheme. GLearn does not publish WAEC's mark table.
Practise the format
Write one formal letter and one informal letter this week. Put the address and the date in before you write a word of the body. Read the close against the salutation before you stop. Then write a semi formal letter to someone you actually know, and see which close you chose.
The letter writing page has short marked questions on the layout. The essay writing page is the other composition form. The BECE revision plan is the order for the final weeks, including English. Kevin is the coach on BECE practice. Anna is the coach on WASSCE practice. Both explain the answer. The first questions need no account.
If you are looking ahead to SHS, the WASSCE guide sets out articles, speeches, reports and stories as well as letters.
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Practise with Kevin and Anna