TOEIC Writing: The Email Response in Ten Minutes

Most TOEIC speaking and writing practice tests stop when the speaking section ends. The writing half is a different job: two of its eight questions are emails, and each one gives you ten minutes to read a message and answer it. Ten minutes is short if you arrive without a plan, because you also have to choose what to include, pick a register, and leave time to check your grammar. It is comfortable if you arrive with four fixed phases and three sentence patterns you can assemble without thinking.

The format facts below come from ETS's own pages and handbook, read on 4 November 2026. Every prompt, email and sentence here is an invented practice example; none of it is an official question, and nothing here predicts a score on the real test.

What the two email questions ask for

The Writing test is 8 questions, about 60 minutes, reported on a 0-200 scale.

Questions	Task	Time	Published criteria
1-5	Write one sentence based on a picture, using two given words or phrases	8 minutes for the part	Grammar; relevance to the picture
6-7	Respond to a written request: an email arrives and you answer it	10 minutes each	Quality and variety of your sentences; vocabulary; organization
8	Write an opinion essay	30 minutes	Support with reasons or examples; grammar; vocabulary; organization

Questions 6 and 7 are the same task type with the same criteria, so there is no separate skill to learn for the second one. What differs is the situation in the email and what the directions require. Read the directions as a checklist: an invented example might ask you to confirm two dates and ask one question back, and a requirement you skip is the difference between the top band and the one below it.

Two details matter for timing. Each email response is rated from 0 to 4, and all eight ratings are converted into the 0-200 score. ETS also states that once you begin question 7 you cannot return to question 6, so a spare minute only helps inside the email you are already writing.

The top-band description is worth knowing in paraphrase: the response addresses every task in the prompt, uses multiple sentences, creates coherence through organizational logic or connecting words, keeps tone and register appropriate to the intended audience, and leaves only isolated errors that do not obscure meaning. Three of those five ideas are decisions you make before you type.

The ten-minute plan

Clock	Phase	What you produce
0:00-1:30	Read	Situation, sender, required items, register
1:30-3:00	Decide	Content order and a sentence type for each point
3:00-7:30	Draft	Greeting, purpose sentence, two or three body sentences, closing
7:30-10:00	Check	The four-point check, then stop

Read: ninety seconds

Read the email twice. The first pass tells you who is writing and why. The second pass finds the verbs in the directions: Confirm, explain, ask, suggest, give two examples are instructions, and each one is a required task. If the directions say make two requests for information, write 2 in the margin and plan two question sentences before anything else. Register is settled here too: a colleague who writes Hi, quick one gets a different reply from a client who writes Dear Ms Alvarez.

Decide: ninety seconds

Choose the order before you write a sentence. Answer or confirm first, then the information or question the reader needs, then the next step. If two tasks are required, give each its own sentence so that a rushed final minute cannot merge them.

Draft: four and a half minutes

Write the whole email, closing included, before correcting anything: six to eight sentences in two short paragraphs. The two email tasks have no published word target, unlike question 8, where ETS mentions a typical minimum of about 300 words, so spend the time covering the required points rather than filling space.

Check: two and a half minutes

• Every required task is present; count them against the margin notes.
• Every sentence has a subject and a finite verb, including the questions.
• The register matches the sender: no Hey to a client, no Dear Sir or Madam to the colleague at the next desk.
• At least two connecting words do real work, such as Also, However, In addition, so that.

Then stop. A sentence added in the last thirty seconds is how a missing subject appears at the end of a chain of requests.

Three sentence types the criteria reward

The published criteria are the quality and variety of your sentences, vocabulary, and organization. Variety is the part candidates forget: eight sentences built on the same frame read as thin even when the grammar is clean.

Type 1: the reason sentence

Add a reason with because, so that, or so, and two short sentences become one fuller one. Instead of The room is busy. We should move the meeting., write The room is busy on Thursday, so we should move the meeting to Friday.

Type 2: the specific request sentence

A request needs a polite opener, the exact thing you want, and a detail that makes it answerable. Instead of Could you send me the file?, write Could you send me the updated schedule by Wednesday, so I can print it before the visit?

Type 3: the closing sentence with the next step

End with who does what next rather than a summary. I will confirm the final numbers on Monday, and please let me know if Friday no longer works gives the reader one thing to answer and one thing to expect.

Two model emails with sentence-level notes

Both emails reply to invented prompts. Read the notes as decisions, not as lines to memorise.

Model email 1: an informal reply to a colleague

The invented prompt: a colleague asks whether Thursday's training can move to Friday afternoon, wants the room confirmed, and asks you to bring the printed handouts.

1. Hi Marta, - a first-name greeting matches the sender's Thanks!.
2. Thanks for checking. Friday afternoon works for me. - answers the main question first, so a rushed minute cannot lose it.
3. I have booked Room 4 from two until four, so we can keep the same handouts. - the reason sentence confirms the second task and explains a detail at once.
4. Could you tell me how many people have signed up so far? - a specific request phrased as a question.
5. I will print the handouts on Friday morning and leave them at the front desk. - the closing names your own next action.
6. Let me know if two o'clock is too late for the team. - one short invitation to reply.

Model email 2: a formal reply to a client

The invented prompt: a client reports a delivery with two damaged boxes, asks what happens next, and asks for written confirmation of the replacement date.

1. Dear Ms Okafor, - the client used a title and surname, so the reply mirrors it.
2. Thank you for letting us know about the two damaged boxes. - acknowledges the problem before any business detail.
3. I have arranged for replacements to be sent on Tuesday, and they should arrive by Thursday. - answers the first task with the dates the client asked about.
4. Please check the packing list when the delivery arrives, so that we can raise any second problem immediately. - a request with a reason attached.
5. I will email written confirmation of the replacement date today. - the second task, promised with a deadline.
6. If Thursday does not suit your warehouse, please tell me before Monday and I will adjust the booking. - one clear action for the reader.

Job in the email	Informal version	Formal version
Open	Hi Sam,	Dear Ms Okafor,
Answer	Friday works for me.	I have arranged for the replacements to be sent on Tuesday.
Close	Let me know if that is too late.	If Thursday does not suit your warehouse, please tell me before Monday.

Both emails follow one skeleton: greeting, answer, reason, request, commitment, invitation to reply, sign-off. Only the vocabulary and the level of formality change.

Errors that cost points without breaking meaning

• Missing one required task. A skipped request reads as a lower band even when the English is clean.
• No questions at all. A request written as a statement loses both variety and tone.
• Register drift. Opening with Dear Ms Alvarez and closing with Cheers is a register error the criteria name.
• Sentences that all start the same way. Eight sentences opening with I look like one sentence repeated.
• No connecting words. Ideas placed side by side force the reader to guess the relationship.
• Unanswerable requests. Please give me some information cannot be answered; Please tell me the delivery window on Tuesday can.
• Polishing one sentence for two minutes, and copying the prompt back instead of answering it.

A rehearsal you can run this week

1. Write your own prompt: one short email, one situation, and a directions line requiring two or three specific items. Note the required items beside you.
2. Round one: 12 minutes. Mark where each phase actually ended against the plan.
3. Round two: 10 minutes with the plan visible.
4. Round three: 9 minutes 30 seconds with the plan face down. If the deadline is what makes you lose a required task, the fix belongs in the reading phase.
5. After each round mark four things only: every required item present, every sentence complete, register consistent, two connecting words. Count them; do not guess a band.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many minutes do I get for each TOEIC Writing email?

Ten minutes per email. Questions 6 and 7 are both respond-to-a-written-request tasks, and ETS gives 10 minutes to read the email and write the answer for each. The other questions run on different clocks: questions 1 to 5 share 8 minutes, and question 8 allows 30 minutes. Plan the ten minutes in four blocks: 90 seconds to read, 90 seconds to decide, four and a half minutes to draft, two and a half minutes to check. Because you cannot return to question 6 once question 7 begins, time left unused inside one email is lost.

How long should a TOEIC Writing email response be?

ETS publishes no word target for these two tasks, unlike question 8, where the directions mention a typical minimum of about 300 words. The practical target is coverage: six to eight sentences that address every required item, in two short paragraphs. A response that answers two required items in five clean sentences uses ten minutes better than three dense paragraphs that mention one of them.

What should I do if the ten minutes run out before I finish?

Switch from improving to completing. Write the missing required item as one direct sentence, add a one-line closing and the sign-off, and finish. An email with a plain final sentence still addresses every task, while a polished email missing one requirement reads as incomplete. Then note which phase overran: if drafting keeps overrunning, cut the plan to four sentences, greeting, answer, request and closing.

Keep the writing half in the same routine

The email tasks need no new study habit, only a rehearsal with a clock and a checklist. Once the four phases feel automatic, the ten minutes stop being the constraint. If the speaking half is the one you have practised, check the current task sequence in our TOEIC Speaking practice test guide, and see how the writing questions are rated in the TOEIC Speaking and Writing score guide.