CELPIP Writing: The Email & the Survey

The big picture

• CELPIP Writing (2 tasks)
  • Task 1: Email — Write an email for a real situation (150–200 words)
  • Task 2: Survey — Choose an option & justify it (150–200 words)
  • Purpose + tone — Match the situation and the reader
  • Rated by humans — At least 3 certified raters

Task 1 — Writing an Email

You're given a situation and write an email of 150–200 words. Cover all the points asked, use an appropriate greeting, purpose, body and close, and match the tone to the reader (formal to a manager, friendly to a friend). Addressing every required point is essential.

Task 2 — Responding to Survey Questions

You read a survey with options, choose one, and write 150–200 words justifying your choice (and often why not the other). It's a mini opinion piece: state your choice, give clear reasons with examples, and stay on topic.

Correct, organised, on-topic

Human raters reward clear organisation, correct grammar and vocabulary, and fully addressing the task over fancy language. Use paragraphs, connect ideas with simple linkers, and leave time to reread for errors.

Mind the word count and the clock

Aim for 150–200 words per task — too short looks underdeveloped, too long risks errors and running out of time. Plan for ~30 seconds to outline, write, and save a minute to check spelling and grammar.

Test yourself before you move on

Re-reading a note feels like learning and produces almost none. The retrieval below is what actually builds the memory, so cover the map above and answer these from memory — out loud or written down, not in your head, because "I know this" is the feeling that fails under exam pressure.

1. Without looking: what is Task 1: Email, and how does it connect to CELPIP Writing (2 tasks)?
2. Without looking: what is Task 2: Survey, and how does it connect to CELPIP Writing (2 tasks)?
3. Without looking: what is Purpose + tone, and how does it connect to CELPIP Writing (2 tasks)?
4. Without looking: what is Rated by humans, and how does it connect to CELPIP Writing (2 tasks)?

Anything you could not produce is the part of this note you have not learned yet — regardless of how familiar it felt while reading. Re-read only that node, then re-test the whole set. Testing the whole set matters: recalling one idea in isolation is easier than recalling it among 4 competing ones, which is the situation the exam actually puts you in.

When to come back to this note

Spacing is not a scheduling detail, it is the mechanism. Meeting this material again just as it starts to fade forces the effortful retrieval that consolidates it, which is why a note reviewed four times across three weeks outlasts the same note read four times in one evening. The built-in scheduler resurfaces these questions at widening intervals for exactly that reason — the prompt arriving when you feel you have half-forgotten is the system working, not failing.

A practical rhythm for CELPIP Writing (2 tasks): today, again tomorrow, then after three days, then after a week. If you fail a review, shorten the next interval rather than re-reading the note end to end — the failure identifies the gap precisely, and re-reading everything wastes the diagnosis.

Then apply it under pressure. Knowing a concept in isolation and using it in a timed paper are different skills, and only the second is examined. There are 210 free CELPIP practice tests here covering 4,020 questions — counted from the test files, not estimated. Take a full timed CELPIP mock →