CELPIP Writing Practice

About the CELPIP Writing Section

The CELPIP General Writing test has two tasks that mirror real-world written communication in Canada. You have about 53 minutes in total. Each response should be 150–200 words; writing fewer than 150 words, or far more than 200, can lower your score. Responses are rated on a 1–12 scale across criteria such as content, organization, vocabulary, and language use.

The two tasks

• Task 1 — Writing an Email: Respond to a scenario (a complaint, request, or explanation) in a clear, appropriate tone.
• Task 2 — Responding to a Survey: Give your opinion or recommendation on a question and support it with reasons.

Writing tips for a higher CELPIP score

• Spend the first few minutes planning: state your purpose, then support it with two or three concrete points.
• Use paragraph breaks so the reader can follow your ideas — one idea per paragraph.
• Vary your sentence structure and vocabulary instead of repeating the same phrases.
• Leave two or three minutes to proofread for spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
• Address every bullet in the prompt — missing a required point costs marks even with good English.

Write your responses in the free practice tool above and review them against the task requirements. Regular timed practice is the fastest way to reach the CLB level your immigration pathway needs.

What the Writing Test Asks You to Do

Both tasks are practical writing rather than essays. In the email task you respond to a situation that could plausibly land in your inbox, such as querying a charge, asking for a repair, apologising for a delay, or explaining a decision to a landlord, employer, or business. In the survey task you answer a question put to the public and give a recommendation with support. The reader is a general adult, so clarity and an appropriate level of formality matter more than elaborate phrasing.

What each task is asking for

• Email task: cover the stated purpose and any required points in a tone suited to the recipient.
• Survey task: take a position and justify it with concrete reasons or examples.

Where writing marks are lost

• Drifting outside the 150–200 word range, which the scoring treats as a weakness even when the English is sound.
• Leaving one of the prompt's required points unaddressed while developing the others at length.
• Choosing a tone that does not fit the reader, such as casual wording in a message to a business.
• Submitting without a proofreading pass, so avoidable grammar and spelling slips remain in the text.

How to practise writing

Write both tasks under the clock, then compare your response with the explanation supplied for each prompt, which sets out how the required points and the word range were met. Keeping a short list of your repeated errors and checking for those specifically on the next attempt is more useful than rewriting the same task blindly. The tests can be retaken freely, so the same prompt can be attempted again once you have addressed the weaknesses the explanation highlighted. A useful habit is to read your draft back once as if you were the recipient, which exposes unclear sentences before the timer runs out.