Formal letter format, with a worked example for school and work

Try it

Say who the letter is from and to, what went wrong and what you want done. The button opens a chat with a complaint about broken streetlights already filled in; change the name, address and details to yours.

The formal letter format is the same whether you are answering a board exam question or writing to an office for the first time: a fixed set of blocks, in a fixed order, then a short body that asks for one thing. Get the blocks right and the reader finds what they need without searching.

Below: the format block by block, the sign-off rule, two filled examples, and the mistakes that cost marks.

The format, block by block

CBSE's current Class 10 marking scheme gives format one of the letter's five marks (CBSE marking scheme 2026-27, checked 30 October 2026). It does not list the parts; the 2022-23 scheme did: "Sender's address, Date, Receiver's address, Subject and Salutation/ Salutation and Subject, Letter, Complimentary close" (CBSE marking scheme 2022-23, checked 30 October 2026). In order:

1. Your address. At the top left.
2. Date. Written out in full, such as 9 November 2026.
3. The receiver. Their designation, office and address: The Municipal Commissioner, Pune Municipal Corporation, Shivajinagar, Pune.
4. Subject. One line that says what the letter is about. CBSE accepts it before or after the salutation.
5. Salutation. Sir/Madam, or Dear Sir/Madam.
6. Body. Three short paragraphs: why you are writing, the facts, and what you want done and by when.
7. Complimentary close, then your name. See the next section for which close to use.

The 2025-26 paper asks for a formal letter in 100 to 120 words (CBSE syllabus 2025-26), so the body has room for facts, not a story.

"Yours faithfully" or "Yours sincerely"?

It depends on whether you are writing a CBSE answer or a real letter.

In a CBSE exam, the 2026-27 marking scheme does not name a close. The 2022-23 scheme listed "Yours truly" for a letter to the editor and "Yours sincerely" for formal and business letters, and the examples below use that convention. If your teacher or school teaches a different close, follow them.

Outside an exam, the British rule is the common one: Yours faithfully after Dear Sir/Madam, and Yours sincerely when you wrote to a named person (University of Twente English style guide). If you started Dear Mr Kulkarni, end Yours sincerely.

Example 1: a complaint to a municipal office

14, Lakeview Society
Kothrud, Pune

9 November 2026

The Ward Officer
Kothrud Ward Office, Pune Municipal Corporation
Pune

Subject: Overflowing garbage bins on Paud Road

Sir/Madam,

I am writing to report that the garbage bins outside 14, Lakeview Society on Paud Road have not been cleared for nine days.

The bins now overflow onto the footpath, stray dogs scatter the waste every night, and the smell reaches the school gate next door, where young children wait for their buses each morning. Residents called the helpline on 2 and 5 November and were told a truck would come the next day, but none has.

I request you to have the bins cleared within three days and to restore the regular collection schedule. Please also let the society secretary know if a new schedule now applies, so residents can plan around it.

Yours sincerely,
Aditi Joshi

Example 2: a letter to the editor

22, Shanti Path
Jaipur

9 November 2026

The Editor
The Morning Courier
Jaipur

Subject: Unsafe crossing outside Government School, Sector 4

Sir/Madam,

Through the columns of your newspaper, I wish to draw the attention of the authorities to the crossing outside Government School, Sector 4.

The zebra crossing has faded almost completely, there is no traffic warden at school hours, and most vehicles do not slow down near the gate. More than three hundred children cross four lanes of traffic twice a day, and parents have seen two near misses this month alone.

I request the traffic police to post a warden at 7:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. and the municipal corporation to repaint the crossing and add a speed breaker before the winter session begins.

Yours truly,
Rohan Mehta

Every name, address and newspaper in these examples is made up. The structure is the part to copy.

The mistakes that cost marks

CBSE gives one of the letter's five marks to format, and the rest to content, organisation and accuracy (CBSE marking scheme 2026-27). The 2022-23 scheme spelled out the format mark: full credit with every part, half a mark with one or two missing, none with more. These are the slips to watch:

• A missing block. No date, no subject or no close each count against the format mark.
• A close that does not match. In an exam, use the close your school teaches for that kind of letter; outside one, Dear Mr Kulkarni with Yours faithfully reads as careless.
• A vague subject. Complaint says nothing; Overflowing garbage bins on Paud Road says everything.
• Too long. Past 120 words, the facts get buried. One request per letter.
• No ask. A letter that only complains, without saying what should happen and by when, leaves the reader nothing to do.

What askROI made from the Try it prompt

We sent the Try it prompt as written. askROI handed back a one-page Word file in the CBSE order: Meera's address first, then the date, the Commissioner, a subject line, Dear Sir/Madam, a 110-word body and Yours sincerely:

It noted that the body is 110 words but the whole page, with both addresses, comes to about 150, and asked whether the limit was meant for the whole page. It also left out a street address for the Corporation, since it did not have a verified one. Swap in your own name, address and complaint, and the letter is ready to copy.

For other documents, the AI document generator starts from the same kind of prompt and hands back an editable Word file.

A formal letter is a form, and that is good news: once the blocks are in place, all that is left is saying clearly what happened and what you want done.