Covering letter or covering email: which do you need?
By CV Ready · Updated 30 October 2026
The short answer
A covering email is a short message in the body of an email, and a covering letter is a more formal one-page document you attach or upload. Use a letter when the advert or portal asks for one, or for formal sectors such as law, the civil service and academia. Otherwise a covering email is usually enough.
What is the difference between a covering letter and a covering email?
They do the same job: they tell an employer why you want this role and why you're worth interviewing. The difference is format. An email is shorter and sits in the message itself. A letter runs to up to one page and has a formal layout.
In the UK the words "covering letter" and "cover letter" mean the same thing.
How do you lay out a UK covering letter?
- Your name and contact details at the top.
- The date, then the employer's name and address.
- A greeting, then a line naming the role.
- An opening paragraph: the role, and why this employer.
- One or two paragraphs of evidence matched to what the advert asks for.
- A closing paragraph saying you'd welcome an interview, then your sign-off and name.
Yours sincerely or yours faithfully?
If you greeted a named person (Dear Ms Khan), sign off with "Yours sincerely". If you wrote "Dear Sir or Madam", sign off with "Yours faithfully". In a covering email, "Kind regards" is fine.
Frequently asked questions
- How long should a covering letter be in the UK?
- No more than one side of A4, usually three or four short paragraphs.
- Can I use the same covering letter for every job?
- You can reuse the structure, but the reasons should be specific to each role. A generic letter is easy to spot.
- Does CV Ready write covering letters?
- It writes a covering email for the specific job, built only from your CV. You can paste the same text into a letter layout if the employer asks for one.