CELPIP Writing

Two tasks, fifty-three minutes, 150 to 200 words each. One email and one survey response — and neither of them is an essay.

CELPIP Writing at a glance

Time

53 minutes

Questions

2 tasks

Parts

Marked by

Human raters

Two tasks, and the split of the fifty-three minutes is fixed for you: twenty-seven minutes for the email, twenty-six for the survey.

Task	Name	Preparation	Time
1	Writing an Email	None	27 minutes
2	Responding to Survey Questions	None	26 minutes

Both tasks want 150 to 200 words. Word count is part of Task Fulfillment, so a 90-word answer loses marks for its length before anyone reads it.
Task 1 usually asks you to do about three things. Doing two of them well still leaves a third of the task unanswered.
Task 2 gives you two options and asks you to choose one and say why it is better. It is not an essay and it is not an email.
The screen gives you a word counter, spell-check and a countdown.

Writing an Email

An email about an everyday matter, usually asking you to do about three things. Tone matters as much as grammar.

Responding to Survey Questions

A survey gives two options. Choose one and argue for it. No email format, and no essay either.

Both tasks are rated by a person on four dimensions: Content/Coherence, Vocabulary, Readability, Task Fulfillment.

How it is scored

Human-rated on Content/Coherence, Vocabulary, Readability and Task Fulfillment.

The level you get is reported on its own, from 1 to 12, and for levels 3 and above it is the same number as your Canadian Language Benchmark. See the writing scoring page for the detail.

Practise this section

Worked examples with answers and explanations are on the CELPIP writing samples page.

Written by Kirill O'Nayd

English test expert and educator at TestSucceed, where he builds the CELPIP practice tasks and mock tests and has spent years taking apart how Canada's immigration English tests award their points. See all TestSucceed preparation materials.