CELPIP Writing Samples

Both writing tasks, with model answers and the reasons they work.

How to use these tasks

Two prompts in the official shape, each with a model answer inside the 150-200 word band and a note on why it scores. Write yours first, then open the model.

Both CELPIP writing tasks are rated on Content/Coherence, Vocabulary, Readability, Task Fulfillment.

Task 1: Writing an Email

Time

27 minutes

Length

150-200 words

You recently took a six-week evening course at your local college. The course was cancelled after four weeks because the instructor left, and you have not been told what happens next.

Write an email to the course coordinator. In your email:

explain which course you took and what happened
ask what will happen to the remaining two weeks
suggest what you would find an acceptable outcome

Sample answer — about 150-200 words

Dear Ms. Lavoie,

I am writing about the Introduction to Bookkeeping course on Tuesday evenings, which I registered for in September. The course ran for four weeks and then stopped after we were told that the instructor had left the college. Since then I have not had any message about what happens next, and the course page online still shows the original schedule.

Could you tell me what the plan is for the remaining two sessions? I would like to know whether a replacement instructor has been found, and if so, when those sessions will be held. Several of us arranged childcare for Tuesday evenings and would need some notice.

If the course cannot be completed this term, I would be glad to take the missing sessions in the winter term at no extra cost. A partial refund would also be reasonable, though I would rather finish the course than get the money back.

Thank you for your help.

Yours sincerely,
Alex Romero

All three requirements are answered, each in its own paragraph, so a rater can see them at a glance.
The purpose is in the first sentence. Nothing is spent on "I hope this finds you well".
186 words — inside the 150-200 band, which is part of Task Fulfillment.
The tone is polite but not stiff: a customer writing to an institution, which is what the prompt describes.

Task 2: Responding to Survey Questions

Time

26 minutes

Length

150-200 words

Your municipality is surveying residents about an unused lot near the town centre. It has budget to develop it in one of two ways:

Option A: a small park with trees, benches and a playground
Option B: a paved parking area for sixty cars

Choose the option you prefer and explain why it is the better use of the lot.

Sample answer — about 150-200 words

I would choose Option A, the park, and I think it is the better choice even for people who drive.

The first reason is that the lot is the only open space left in the centre. Everything around it is built on, and once it is paved it will not become a park later — that decision is effectively permanent. A park, on the other hand, can be adapted. The playground can be replaced with something else in twenty years if the neighbourhood changes.

The second reason is who actually uses the centre. The shops there depend on people walking between them, and families with small children stay far longer when there is somewhere to stop. Sixty parking spaces would bring sixty cars, but a park brings people who are already on foot and in no hurry.

I understand the parking argument, because finding a space on a Saturday is genuinely difficult. But parking can be built on the edge of the centre, where land is cheaper, and this particular lot cannot be replaced.

The choice is stated in the first sentence, and never wobbles.
Two reasons, each developed with a concrete detail, rather than four reasons listed.
The other option is acknowledged once and then answered — conceding is not the same as sitting on the fence.
191 words, no greeting and no sign-off, because this is a survey response and not an email.

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.