- What Task 1 asks for
- CELPIP email vs an IELTS letter
- A repeatable structure
- Splitting 53-60 minutes
- The three-line plan
- Register and tone
- CLB 7, 9 and 12 compared
- Common failure modes
- Your writing score in Canada
- Your writing score in Australia
- Practise the section free
The CELPIP General Writing section is two tasks in 53–60 minutes, and the clock is yours to divide. Task 1 is Writing an Email; Task 2 is Responding to Survey Questions. Because the two share one window, a scheduling mistake usually pulls the second task down.
What Task 1 asks you to do
You are given a short everyday situation and a recipient, and you write one email responding to it. The prompt also lists the points your email must cover: a polished email that leaves one out has not answered the prompt.
Situations are everyday rather than academic, and the recipient changes with each prompt, so the register changes too. Writing is reported as its own level from 1 to 12, calibrated one-to-one with the Canadian Language Benchmarks: CELPIP Writing 7 is CLB 7, with no averaging across the four skills. The whole test runs about 3 hours in one sitting, with results online in 8 business days, or 3 with express rating. Section counts and timings are on the format page.
How it differs from an IELTS letter
If you have prepared IELTS General Training writing before, the habits transfer but the conditions do not.
- One block, two tasks. CELPIP does not time the email separately, so polishing time comes out of the survey.
- Per-skill scoring, straight to CLB. Writing maps one-to-one with CLB on its own, so a writing weakness shows in the points grids instead of vanishing into an average.
- The conversions are not linear. One band on the other test is not one level here:
| CLB needed | CELPIP Writing | IELTS General Training Writing |
|---|---|---|
| CLB 10 or more | 10–12 | 7.5–9.0 |
| CLB 9 | 9 | 7.0 |
| CLB 8 | 8 | 6.5 |
| CLB 7 | 7 | 6.0 |
| CLB 5 or more | 5 or more | 5.0 |
Express Entry accepts IELTS General Training (not Academic) and PTE Core (not PTE Academic); IELTS One Skill Retake is not accepted.
A structure you can reproduce under the clock
Four moves, always in this order. They are the parts you should never have to think about, so your thinking goes into the content points.
| Move | What it does | Keep it this short |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Salutation | Sets the register | Dear Ms Okafor, / Hi Priya, |
| 2. Purpose sentence | Says why the email exists | I am writing to ask about the damaged delivery. |
| 3. Content points | One paragraph per point, in prompt order | Three points, three paragraphs |
| 4. Close | What you want next, then a sign-off | Please confirm a new date. Kind regards, Chris |
Cover the points in prompt order, and put the purpose in the first line.
Splitting 53-60 minutes across two tasks
There is no published time split: the section is one block of 53–60 minutes and you decide what happens inside it. The usual failure is spending two-thirds of the clock on the email and reaching the survey with a quarter of it left.
| Phase | Working minutes | What you are doing |
|---|---|---|
| Plan the email | 3 | Mark each point, fix the register |
| Write the email | 22–25 | Salutation, purpose, one paragraph per point, close |
| Check the email | 2–3 | Points covered, purpose in line one, sign-off present |
| Survey: plan and write | 23–26 | Choose a side, list your reasons, write position and close |
| Final check | 3–5 | Proofread both responses |
| Total | 53–60 | Stop the email at your planned minute |
Decide your stop time for the email before you type, and treat it as a hard wall.
The three-line plan
Three minutes of planning buys back more than three minutes of typing, because you stop hunting for what must be in the email.
| Plan line | The question it answers | Worked example (a late delivery) |
|---|---|---|
| Recipient and register | Who is reading this, and how close are we? | A supplier I have never used: polite, direct |
| Purpose in one sentence | Why does this email exist? | To complain about a late delivery |
| The required points, numbered | What must be in it? | 1 the delay · 2 the impact · 3 what I want |
| Register markers | Which phrases set the tone? | Use: I would appreciate; could you confirm |
Then allocate one paragraph per numbered point. The plan doubles as your final checklist.
Register for a complaint or enquiry
Most Task 1 prompts sit in the semi-formal middle: you are writing to someone you do not know personally, and you want something done. Semi-formal means polite but not distant — formal enough not to offend a stranger, direct enough that the request is obvious.
| Move | Too casual for the prompt | The semi-formal target |
|---|---|---|
| Opening | Hey, quick one about my order | Dear Sir or Madam, I am writing about... |
| The problem | So your delivery hasn't showed up and it's a mess | Unfortunately, my order has not yet arrived |
| The request | Sort it out ASAP please | I would appreciate it if you could confirm a new date |
| Close | Cheers, thanks | Thank you for your help. Kind regards, |
Overshooting fails too: whereof and hereby read as unnatural rather than impressive. Pick the middle register and hold it to the sign-off.
CLB 7, CLB 9 and CLB 12 compared
Official descriptors are in the middle column; the third column is our own qualitative description, not official wording.
| CELPIP Writing | Official descriptor | How it reads on the page (our description) |
|---|---|---|
| 11–12 | Advanced proficiency | Fully controlled: a competent professional's one-pass email |
| 10 | Highly effective | Wide range used accurately; slips never interrupt the reader |
| 9 | Effective | All points clear, tone held, errors rare |
| 8 | Good | Meaning always clear, but narrow range and noticeable small errors |
| 7 | Adequate | Simpler structures; some errors force a second read |
The jump from CLB 7 to CLB 9 is about control, not longer sentences. A CLB 7 email is accurate enough that a reader can see what the writer meant; a CLB 9 email is accurate enough that nothing has to be inferred and the tone does not wobble. That is why proofreading time is worth more than extra sentences.
Common failure modes
Most lost levels in Task 1 come from a handful of habits.
| Failure mode | What it costs you | The fix |
|---|---|---|
| A memorised template that ignores the prompt | Reads as off-topic however strong the English is | Rebuild from the prompt |
| One required point left out | An obvious, checkable gap | Number and tick off the points |
| Wrong register for the recipient | Jarring from the first line | Fix register in the plan |
| Purpose buried in paragraph three | The reader hunts for why you wrote | Purpose sentence after the salutation |
| Over-investing in the email | Task 2 arrives rushed and proofreading time is gone | Set a stop time before you type |
What the writing score is worth in Canada
In Canada your CELPIP level is your CLB level in that ability, and CRS points are awarded per ability with no averaging, so writing can carry a shortfall or create one. First official language, with a spouse first:
| CLB in writing | CRS points (with spouse) | CRS points (without spouse) |
|---|---|---|
| CLB 10 or more | 32 | 34 |
| CLB 9 | 29 | 31 |
| CLB 8 | 22 | 23 |
| CLB 7 | 16 | 17 |
| Four-ability maximum | 128 | 136 |
Writing is also one of the four abilities in the Federal Skilled Worker grid: CLB 7 is 4 points, CLB 8 is 5 and CLB 9 or more is 6, to a maximum of 24. The Federal Skilled Worker minimum is CLB 7 in all four abilities, so Writing 6 fails the program on its own, and since job-offer points were removed from the CRS on 25 March 2025 the language grids carry more weight.
Convert your scores with the CELPIP to CLB and CRS calculator, the CLB score guide and the Express Entry score requirements.
What the writing score is worth in Australia
Australia is the opposite situation: writing is the hardest cell in the DHA table, and the only skill where Superior English rises to the top of the CELPIP scale.
| DHA level | Listening | Reading | Writing | Speaking | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Superior English | 10 | 10 | 12 | 10 | +20 |
| Proficient English | 9 | 8 | 10 | 8 | +10 |
| Competent English | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 0 (eligibility floor) |
| Vocational English | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 0 |
For Proficient English and its +10 points you need CELPIP writing 10, while reading and speaking need 8 and listening needs 9. For Superior English you need writing 12, against 10 in the other three skills. Functional English is a different measure: an overall band of at least 5.
Subclass 485 lists an overall level of 8 with at least 6 in each component, and 482 Skills in Demand sets a minimum of 5 in each, while 189, 190 and 491 require at least Competent English: CELPIP 7 in every skill including writing. Three eligibility points catch people out: CELPIP General joined the DHA accepted list on 7 August 2025, with tests taken on or before 6 August 2025 usable until 6 August 2028; DHA does not accept online or at-home tests, so the test must be taken at a secure centre; and CELPIP results are valid for two years. Full detail is on the CELPIP and DHA visa page.
Practise the two-task section free
Do the drill under a clock: write the email, stop at your planned minute, then write the survey with the time that is left.
- CELPIP Writing practice — email and survey, scored
- CELPIP Writing Task 2: the survey response
- All CELPIP practice tests on PrepSettle
Last reviewed: 29 September 2026.