Students need to make clear choices when writing to a work-experience provider. Their email should state the placement dates, use an appropriate greeting and make a courteous request. To write a professional email, ask them to consider the recipient and purpose before drafting.
This professional email lesson gives you a teachable sequence for turning a workplace scenario into a clear request. You will be able to model each part, help students adapt a work experience email example and teach a practical send-check they can use independently. Teach the Equal Sign as a Relationship
Contents
Set the recipient, purpose and context
Start by asking students to complete three planning boxes: recipient, purpose and context. Do not let them draft the greeting yet. Use the completed boxes as notes students can refer to when they begin the email. Classroom Literacy Centers for Independent Work
- Recipient: Who will read this email? What is their name, role and organisation?
- Purpose: What does the student want the recipient to do?
- Context: What does the recipient need to know before deciding or replying?
For example, a student might write to the manager of a local design studio. Their purpose is to ask whether the studio could offer a short placement. The context includes the proposed dates, the student’s age, their interest in design and any requirements set by the school.
Ask students to state the request aloud in one sentence: I am writing to ask whether your studio could offer me work experience during the week beginning [date]. If they cannot do this clearly, they are not ready to draft.
Research published in Language Teaching Research examined explicit strategy instruction for authentic email requests. This supports teaching students to connect form, purpose and context rather than simply giving them a template to copy.
Give students the workplace context first
Give students a complete workplace scenario before asking them to choose what belongs in the email. A blank prompt such as “Ask a company for work experience” forces them to invent both the situation and the language at once.
Prepare a short scenario card containing the employer’s name, contact person, type of work and placement dates. Add a student profile with an age, relevant subjects, interests, experience and reason for approaching that employer. Include one or two details that do not belong in the final email so students must make choices.
For example, the employer could be an animal clinic that accepts enquiries from students aged 15 to 16. The student profile might mention studying science, helping at an animal shelter and wanting to learn about different clinic roles. An unrelated hobby gives students something to exclude.
Ask pairs to highlight information the employer needs and cross out information that adds no value. They should then explain each choice. This turns selection into an explicit part of writing rather than an assumption.
A study reported in the Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education found that teacher-provided background information supported email writing among the adult language learners studied. Although that group differs from school students, the task design offers a useful principle: give writers concrete content before expecting them to shape it.
Unpack how a respectful request sounds
Teach respectful requests by comparing how several versions sound to the recipient. Put a demanding request, a vague request and a professional request side by side. Ask students what action each one expects and how an employer might interpret its tone.
I need a placement at your company sounds as though the recipient has no choice. Please send me information is polite on the surface but does not explain what information is wanted. A clearer alternative is: Would you be willing to consider offering me a work-experience placement from [date] to [date]?
Draw attention to the language doing the work. A question form recognises that the recipient can decline. Would you be willing softens the request without hiding it. Exact dates and a named placement make the required response clear.
An analysis published in the TESL Canada Journal examined request strategies used in workplace emails written by professionals. Use this as a reason to teach request wording explicitly, not as a fixed claim that every workplace or culture expects one formula.
Finish with a quick rewriting task. Give students blunt or unclear requests and ask them to make each one specific, courteous and concise. Discuss why adding many instances of please cannot rescue a confusing request.
Model the email one section at a time
Co-write the email in visible stages, explaining the job of each part. Keep the scenario card beside the model so students can see how planning notes become complete sentences. Resist writing a polished email first and explaining it afterwards.
- Subject line: State the purpose, such as Work-experience enquiry for [dates].
- Greeting: Use the contact’s name when it is known. If students do not know it, teach an appropriate role-based greeting rather than letting them guess a name.
- Introduction: Give the student’s name, school context and reason for writing in one or two sentences.
- Request: Ask directly about the placement and include the relevant dates.
- Supporting detail: Briefly explain the genuine interest, subjects, skills or experience that make the request credible.
- Closing and name: Thank the reader, indicate what response would help and use a professional sign-off.
Pause after each part. Ask, What does the recipient know now? and What do they still need to know? This keeps attention on communication rather than decorative vocabulary.
When the model is complete, remove one section at a time and ask students to reconstruct it from the planning notes. They can then draft from a fresh scenario. Ask them to use the same six-part structure while choosing details and wording that fit the new recipient and placement.
For younger students or writers who need more support, provide sentence starters with choices. For confident writers, remove the starters but keep the six-part checklist.
Use a model work-experience request email
Give students a model they can annotate before they adapt it. Make clear that names, dates, interests and experience must be genuine. A work experience email example is a guide to structure and tone, not a message to copy unchanged.
Subject: Work-experience enquiry for 12–16 May
Dear Ms Patel,
My name is Jordan Lee, and I am a student at Westfield School. I am writing to ask whether Green Street Architects would consider offering me a work-experience placement from 12 to 16 May.
I am interested in learning how architects develop ideas and communicate designs to clients. At school, I study art, mathematics and design technology. I have also used basic digital design software for a community garden project.
I would be grateful if you could let me know whether a placement might be available and whether you require any further information. My teacher can provide the school’s placement details and contact information if needed.
Thank you for considering my request.
Kind regards,
Jordan Lee
Ask students to label the subject, greeting, introduction, request, supporting details and closing. They should underline the exact action requested and circle the information that helps the employer respond.
Next, ask them to replace each scenario-specific detail. Check that they have not retained the model employer, invented experience or claimed skills they do not have. This step makes the email request for students both useful and honest.
Build in a final send-check
Build a short send-check into the lesson and require students to use it on a partner’s draft. Proofreading only for spelling is not enough. Effective email etiquette for students also covers accuracy, tone, privacy and the action requested.
- Purpose: Does the subject line identify the placement enquiry? Can the recipient find the request quickly?
- Details: Are the recipient’s name, organisation, dates and student information accurate?
- Tone: Is the request respectful without sounding vague, demanding or overly casual?
- Relevance: Does every detail help explain the request or support the employer’s decision?
- Presentation: Are the greeting, paragraphs, punctuation, closing and sender’s name complete?
- Safety: Has the student followed school procedures for contacting employers and sharing personal information?
Use a two-stage routine: check the message, then check the mechanics. In the first stage, students read as the employer and identify what response they would give. In the second, they check names, spelling, dates, attachments and contact details.
Students should not send a practice message to a real employer. When the request is genuine, follow your school’s approval and safeguarding procedures. Ask the student to open any named attachment before sending, confirm that it is the correct file and remove comments or unsuitable file names.
Finish by asking students to save the checklist. The same routine can support later emails to course providers, community organisations and potential employers.
A strong work-experience email begins before the first sentence is written. When students identify the recipient, purpose and relevant context first, they can make a request that is clear, respectful and useful.
Keep the process visible through modelling, adaptation and a final send-check. Students will then have a repeatable method for writing future placement requests, enquiries and other professional messages.
