Responding to Survey Questions

How the task works

A survey describes a situation and offers two options. You choose one and explain why it is better, in 150 to 200 words, in twenty-six minutes.

It is not an email, so it needs no greeting or sign-off, and it is not an essay, so it needs no thesis-and-three-body-paragraphs scaffolding.

Strategy that works

• Choose the option you can argue best, not the one you would really pick.
• State the choice in the first sentence. Raters look for a clear position immediately.
• Give two reasons with a concrete detail each. Two developed reasons beat four listed ones.
• Acknowledge the other option once, briefly, then explain why it loses.

What costs marks

• Explaining both options evenly and never committing to one.
• Writing abstractly — "it is more convenient" — without saying for whom or when.
• Restating the survey prompt in your own words and calling it an introduction.

Practise it

Worked examples of this task, with answers and explanations, are on the CELPIP writing samples page. The rest of the section is set out on the CELPIP writing description page.

Common questions