Your letter opening makes or breaks the first impression. You've got one shot to show the examiner that you understand formal register, and most students fumble it in the very first line.
The salutation isn't just a throwaway detail. It accounts for a chunk of your Coherence & Cohesion score, which is worth 25% of your overall Task 1 mark. Mess it up, and examiners flag your entire letter as having "register inconsistency" before you've even started your main points. Get it right, and you signal that you know how English correspondence actually works.
This guide shows you exactly what examiners are checking for when they evaluate your formal salutation IELTS writing, walks you through the mistakes that tank most students, and gives you a dead-simple framework to verify your letter opening before you submit.
Task 1 gives you 150 words. That's tight. Your salutation eats maybe 5 to 10 words—seemingly insignificant. But it's the first thing an examiner reads. Write "Hi there!" to a university administrator or "Dear Sir or Madam," to your best friend, and the examiner immediately knows you don't grasp register.
The IELTS band descriptors specifically mention "appropriate register" and "appropriate format for the task type." Your task 1 letter greeting is the very first checkpoint. Around 30% of students make preventable errors here.
A weak opening doesn't just lose you register marks. It signals poor task awareness, which affects how the examiner evaluates your overall coherence and whether you understand what the task actually requires.
Before you write anything, identify who you're writing to. The question tells you explicitly.
Look at these real Task 1 scenarios:
Your salutation must match that relationship. Simple. Yet this is where most students go wrong. They second-guess themselves and pick something "safe" that doesn't actually fit the context.
Weak: "Hi Sir, I am writing to you regarding my complaint..." (Mixing casual greeting with formal complaint. The register is all over the place.)
Good: "Dear Sir or Madam, I am writing to lodge a formal complaint about..." (Consistent formal register from line one.)
This happens in roughly 40% of Task 1 prompts. You're writing to a company, an organization, or a government department, but there's no specific person named.
Your best options:
Use "Dear Sir or Madam," unless you have a specific reason not to. It's the safest choice and examiners recognize it instantly as appropriate. You won't lose marks for using it.
Good: "Dear Sir or Madam, I am writing to enquire about the available positions in your marketing department." (Standard, professional, no ambiguity.)
Avoid casual greetings like "Hi there," "Hello," or "Hey" in formal letters. You'll lose register marks. Also avoid "Madam/Sir," (wrong word order) or "Hello Sir/Madam," (mixing informal with formal).
If the prompt gives you a name, use it. Always.
Good: "Dear Mr. Johnson," or "Dear Ms. Garcia," (Shows attention to detail and maintains appropriate formality.)
Use the title and surname only, not the first name. "Dear Mr. Ahmed," is correct. "Dear Ahmed," is too casual for business correspondence. "Dear Mr.," with no name is incomplete and looks like a mistake.
Unsure about gender? Use the full name without a title: "Dear Alex Thompson," works when you can't determine whether someone's Mr. or Ms.
Sometimes Task 1 asks you to write to someone in your life. A friend, family member, colleague, or acquaintance.
Your register shifts. Your opening shifts with it.
Good (informal, to a friend): "Hi Sarah," or "Dear Sarah," (Both work fine. "Hi" feels warmer; "Dear" is slightly more respectful but still personal.)
Good (semi-formal, to a former teacher): "Dear Ms. Williams," (Formal enough to show respect without overdoing it.)
Weak (to a friend): "Dear Mr. Singh," (You're writing to your friend. This is stiff and creates unnecessary distance. Clear register mismatch.)
When writing to friends or people you know well, use their first name with "Hi" or "Dear." Examiners expect this. It proves you understand register.
If you need more guidance on balancing tone across your entire letter, our guide on formal and informal balance covers how to maintain consistency from opening to close.
IELTS follows British English conventions. The standard is a comma after the salutation, then your body text on a new line.
Good (British style): "Dear Sir or Madam,
I am writing to lodge a complaint..."
American English sometimes uses a colon, but in IELTS stick with the comma. It's the expected convention. Won't cost you marks, but consistency matters.
Don't overthink this part. Use a comma and move forward.
Here are the errors examiners see constantly.
Mistake 1: Mixing register from the start. "Hi guys," is too casual for a formal business letter. You're losing register marks immediately.
Mistake 2: Wrong capitalization or phrasing. "To whom this may concern," is incorrect. It's "To Whom It May Concern," capitalized and proper. Lazy mistakes like this look sloppy.
Mistake 3: Wasting words on empty politeness. "Dear Sir or Madam," followed by "I hope you are well." In a 150-word letter, pleasantries waste space. Jump straight to your purpose: "I am writing to..." You need every word for actual content.
Mistake 4: Casual tone after formal salutation. "Dear Sir or Madam, I hope you are well. How are you?" The tone is all over the place. This doesn't work in formal business letters.
Mistake 5: Skipping the salutation entirely. Jumping straight to "I am writing to..." means your letter lacks proper format. You lose Coherence & Cohesion marks. Always include one. It takes 10 seconds.
For a deeper look at the common errors that hold back Band 6 and Band 7 scores, check out our breakdown of letter format mistakes.
Before you finalize, run through this checklist:
Real talk: Spend 30 seconds on your salutation. Get it right, lock in the register, then focus all your remaining time on your content. Don't waste Task 1 minutes second-guessing your opening when you should be developing your main argument.
| Scenario | Salutation |
|---|---|
| Writing to a company (no name given) | Dear Sir or Madam, |
| Writing to a specific person (name provided) | Dear Mr./Ms. [Surname], |
| Writing to a friend | Hi [First Name], or Dear [First Name], |
| Writing to a colleague or acquaintance | Dear Mr./Ms. [Surname], |
| Writing to a family member | Dear [First Name], or Hi [First Name], |
| Unsure of recipient's gender | Dear [Full Name], (no title) |
Bookmark this. Print it if you need to. Reference it during your practice sessions.
Once you've nailed your opening, your closing matters just as much. The way you sign off reinforces the entire tone of your letter.
You now know exactly what a correct salutation looks like and why it matters for your IELTS letter writing. The next step is to practice writing Task 1 letters with accurate openings and run them through a checker to catch any register slip-ups you might miss on your own.
Use our free IELTS writing checker to verify your letter's register consistency, format, and overall coherence before test day. It catches the small mistakes that are easy to overlook when you're writing under pressure. Our IELTS writing evaluator analyzes your salutation, tone, and structure so you know exactly where you stand.
Use our IELTS writing correction tool to verify your salutation, register, and format before test day. Get instant feedback on your Task 1 letter.
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