CELPIP Speaking Task 5 is Comparing and Persuading. Part 1 gives you 60 seconds to look at two options and choose one, with no recording. Part 2 introduces a different option proposed by the other person; you get another 60 seconds of preparation and 60 seconds of recording to persuade them to accept the choice you made in Part 1.
The official score report does not provide a separate Task 5 score, and it does not publish how much this task contributes to Speaking Overall.
What Part 1 is for
Part 1 produces no speaking evidence. Its job is to let you understand the situation, compare the two choices, and commit to a position. The evidence for rating comes from the Part 2 recording, where you have to remember what you chose and explain why it beats the new option.
Which product or plan you pick has no standard answer.
Content / Coherence
This dimension asks whether your position is clear, whether your reasons are organised, and whether the information from the picture has been developed into meaningful support.
Reading out prices, sizes, and colours is still not persuasive. A fuller answer explains why the lower price suits the budget, how the portability matches how it will be used, or what specific problem a particular feature solves.
Vocabulary
Comparison and persuasion language should be accurate and natural: more affordable, better suited to, unlike your option, a practical long-term choice, meet our needs. These make relationships explicit.
You can concede a strength in the other option before returning to your own position — but do not spend most of your minute supporting their side.
Listenability
The question is whether a one-minute answer is clear, fluent, and easy to follow. A workable sequence is: state your choice, develop two or three reasons, restate the recommendation. That order helps you control pauses and sentence structure.
Reading information off the screen word for word tends to flatten intonation and does not demonstrate natural communication.
Task Fulfillment
This dimension pays particular attention to whether you are actually persuading the person in the prompt, whether the content is relevant and complete, whether the tone is friendly and convincing, and whether the answer is long enough.
Comparing the two options without ever trying to change the other person’s decision may leave the persuading half of the task unfinished. Being excessively forceful can also be wrong for a conversation with a friend or family member.
How to practise
Simulate Part 1 and Part 2 in full, then check three things on the recording:
- Did I state my choice clearly at the beginning?
- Did I turn at least two picture features into reasons?
- Did I respond directly to the new option the other person proposed?
Do not assign your own percentage split between Part 1 and Part 2 — CELPIP publishes no such per-task calculation.
FAQs
Is Part 1 recorded? No. Only Part 2 produces speaking evidence.
Is one option better to choose? No. Choose the one you can defend.
Why is reading specs weak? It informs without persuading.
Next, read how Task 6 is scored and how to answer Tasks 5-8.