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Band 3.0 (CEFR B1)

TOEFL Email Task — Band 3 Sample Response (with critique)

A complete worked example for the TOEFL iBT 2026 Write an Email task — the prompt as it appears on the test, a sample response, and a rubric-anchored analysis showing exactly what earns the score.

Prompt

Same prompt as the band 5 sample. The student receives an email from Professor Tan announcing a grading-scheme change for ECON 201 and asking for replies with specific questions or requests.

Subject: Change to grading scheme for ECON 201

Dear class,

After discussion with the teaching team, we are reducing the weight of the final exam in ECON 201 from 40% to 25% of the total grade. The remaining 15% will move to a new group project, due in week 11. Project teams will be assigned by the instructor next Monday.

If you have concerns about the change, please reply to this email by Friday with your specific question or request.

Best regards,
Professor Tan

Instructions: Write a reply of 100-150 words. Address every point in the email and use a register appropriate for emailing a professor.

Sample response

Word count: 105
Dear Professor Tan,

Thank you for the email. I read about the new grading. I think the group project is a good idea because students can learn from each other.

However I have concern. I am very busy in week 11 with many work and I think it is difficult to do the project at this time. Maybe you can change the deadline.

Also I want to ask about the team. How many people will be in one team? And can we choose our team or only the instructor will choose?

Thank you very much for your understanding.

Best,
A. Patel

Rubric breakdown

Criterion Score Comment
Organization 3/5 The email has a greeting, three short paragraphs, and a sign-off, so the structure is recognisable. But paragraphs are fragmentary and one ends mid-thought.
Development 2/5 The 'too busy' concern lacks any specific reasoning ('many work' is generic and vague). The team-formation question is concrete and earns partial credit. Only one of two raised concerns is fully developed.
Language Use 3/5 Visible errors: missing 'a' before 'concern', 'many work' (mass-noun mistake), incorrect 'change the deadline' phrasing for what should be 'reschedule'. Sentence structures are mostly simple.
Tone & Register 3/5 Greeting and sign-off are appropriate. Body is neutral but uses informal sentence patterns ('Maybe you can change') that read as too direct for a professor email. 'A. Patel' as a sign-off is fine but undersigned.

What holds this response back

  • 'I am very busy in week 11 with many work' — examiners need a concrete reason. 'Many work' is also a grammar error (work is a mass noun: 'a lot of work').
  • 'Maybe you can change the deadline' is too direct in tone. A higher-band response would frame it as a request: 'Would it be possible to consider an extension'.
  • Two questions in one paragraph (team size + team choice) is fine, but they're tacked on after the unrelated 'too busy' concern, breaking topical organisation.
  • Length is 105 words, just over the lower threshold. Aiming for 130-140 typically gives more room to develop ideas.
  • Repetitive 'thank you' (twice) without varying the closing language.

How to push this response to band 5

Three concrete edits would lift this from band 3 to band 5. (1) Replace 'I am very busy in week 11 with many work' with a specific, named conflict: 'Week 11 overlaps with my CHEM 270 midterm and my PSYC 220 essay deadline.' (2) Reframe the deadline question as a request, not an instruction: 'Would it be possible to release the project brief earlier so teams can begin scoping before week 10?' (3) Tighten the team-questions paragraph to a single specific clarification request, not two stacked questions. Apply those three changes and the rubric criteria all move up to 5/5.

Common mistakes at lower bands

Band 2 responses often fail completeness entirely — they thank the professor but don't raise any concern or question. Band 1 responses miss the register completely (e.g. 'Hi prof, this isn't fair to me'). The dividing line between band 2 and band 3 is whether the response addresses every required element of the prompt, even if the development is weak.

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