Cover Letter Format (UK): Layout Tips & 9+ Examples

How to properly format a cover letter

Every well-written CV needs to be paired with a properly formatted cover letter (also known as a job application letter). Here’s how to lay your cover letter out to impress UK employers:

Put your name and contact information in a header
List today’s date like this: day month year (for example, 8 October 2021)
Left-align the contact person’s name and company address
Address your cover letter directly: ‘Dear [Mr/Mrs/Ms][Contact Person’s Name],’
Start your cover letter with a short introduction paragraph, emphasise your top achievements and state the position you’re applying for
Use 1–2 body paragraphs and a bulleted list to explain your relevant skills, experience, and achievements
End your cover letter with a call-to-action paragraph that requests an interview and lists your contact information
Sign-off with a polite phrase like “Yours sincerely,” and type (or sign and type) your name

Here’s what the final product should look like:

An infographic that explains every section of the cover letter format.

3 UK cover letter format examples

Here’s what professional cover letter formatting looks like as a traditional file upload, text in the body of an email, or text pasted in an online job application form:

1. Simple cover letter format sample (free Word download)

Download This Free Example

The above example works for any job application that asks you to upload or email your cover letter as a Word or PDF file. You can download the template as a Word document and replace the information with yours.

2. Email cover letter format example

If you’re writing your cover letter in the body of an email, shorten it for easier reading. Take these steps to shorten your email cover letter:

Remove the contact person’s name and address from the top
Move your contact information to your email signature
Write your bullet points into the body paragraphs

3. Online job application cover letter format sample

You don’t need to include the contact information and date sections when you paste your cover letter into an online job application. Those details are automatically included in the version of your application the employer receives when you hit Submit.

6 cover letter layout tips

Here are six formatting tips to help you write a covering letter that gets you an interview at a great UK company:

Highlight your name in a header
Find a professional font
Keep it on one page
Maximise your content with optimised margins
Correctly use commas and capitalisation
Use standard spacing and alignment

To make your cover letter stand out, put your name and contact information in a header using the following formatting:

Centre-align your name using a bolded, extra-large font to help the employer remember your application
Put your contact information under your name. Use centre alignment and either place each item on a new line or keep them all on one line, separated by extra spaces, slashes, or vertical bars. Also, you can use a smaller font size than you used on the rest of your cover letter to make your information fit.
Consider adding a splash of colour to make your cover letter stand out. Some cover letter templates include headers with coloured backgrounds or text to make your application stand out.

Here’s an example of a well-formatted cover letter header:

2. Find a professional font

The font you use for your cover letter should be:

easy to read
black (but you can use other colours in your header)
between 10.5 and 12 points

Professional fonts employers can easily read include:

Calibri
Times New Roman
Georgia
Arial

3. Keep it on one page

Your cover letter length should be 250–400 words and must not exceed one page. Employers expect candidates to succinctly detail why they’re a good fit for the job, and they won’t take the time to read multiple pages.

4. Maximise your content with optimised margins

Typically, you can use your word processor’s preset margins when you write your cover letter. Regardless of whether you’re writing a short cover letter or a lengthy one, adjust your margins between 1.25 cm and 2.5 cm to ensure it fills one page. Just remember:

overly wide margins cram your information together and make it hard to read
excessively thin margins create excess white space and make your cover letter appear empty

5. Correctly use commas and capitalisation

Capitalise the first letter of every word in your greeting (except for articles and prepositions shorter than four letters). Use capitals because you’re either addressing the contact person by name or substituting the name of a company or department. End your greeting with a comma.

Here’s an example of a properly formatted greeting:

Dear Ms Jones,

When you sign off your cover letter, only capitalize the first word because it’s only a phrase that leads to your name. A good sign-off looks like this:

Yours sincerely,

6. Use standard spacing and alignment

Here’s how to align and space every section of your cover letter:

Contact information and date

Single-space your contact information in a centre-aligned header or a right-aligned list. On the first line under the header, right align today’s date, and then hit Enter twice to add a paragraph break before listing the contact person’s single-spaced information. Left-align the contact person’s information.

Here’s what the contact information and date sections of your cover letter should look like with a header:

Here’s what your contact information should look like with a right-aligned list:

Greeting

Add a paragraph break after the contact person’s information and write your greeting. Then insert another paragraph break to get to your first paragraph.

Here’s what the spacing between the contact information, greeting, and introduction paragraph looks like:

Paragraphs

Single-space the text in your paragraphs. When you’re ready to start a new paragraph, just hit Enter twice to create a paragraph break.

Here’s an example of properly spaced paragraphs:

Sign-off

After your final paragraph, make a paragraph break and write your sign-off phrase. Then add a paragraph break and write your name.

Here’s how your sign-off should look:

More job application resources

Here are more resources to help you write and format a CV and cover letter that help you get hired in 2021:

How to properly format a cover letter

3 UK cover letter format examples