If you are preparing for CELPIP for the first time, three questions usually come first: how many writing questions are there, how long do you get, and how much do you have to write? The answers are short. According to CELPIP official 2026 preparation material, the CELPIP-General Writing section contains two tasks and lasts 53 minutes in total.
Task 1 is Writing an Email — you write an email based on an everyday or workplace situation. Task 2 is Responding to Survey Questions — you choose one of two options and explain why that choice is better. Task 1 gives you 27 minutes, Task 2 gives you 26 minutes, and each response has a suggested length of 150 to 200 words.
The format at a glance
- Task 1 — Writing an Email: 27 minutes, 150-200 words. A short situation plus roughly three points you must respond to.
- Task 2 — Responding to Survey Questions: 26 minutes, 150-200 words. Two options on screen; pick one and defend it.
- Total: 53 minutes for the section.
- On-screen tools: an automatic word counter and a spell-check function.
What Task 1 actually asks for
Task 1 gives you a short background and then lists about three points you need to address. This is the part candidates most often underestimate. It is not enough to produce something that looks like an email — you have to deal with the whole prompt. If the question asks you to describe a problem, explain its effect, and propose a solution, all three have to appear in your answer.
A greeting, clear paragraphs, a closing line, and a signature make the email easier to read. What you do not need is a home address, a company address, or To, From, and Subject fields. Tone is decided by the reader and your purpose. Writing to a manager, a property company, or a public office calls for polite, clear language — and even a complaint should stay away from aggressive wording.
What Task 2 actually asks for
Task 2 is not an email. It is an opinion survey. Two options appear on screen, you commit to one of them, and you support your position with two or three reasons.
Which side you pick does not decide your score — both options can earn a high level. What matters is whether your reasons are relevant, whether they carry real detail, whether your paragraphs are clear, and whether your language expresses your meaning accurately. Two habits reliably cost points: supporting both sides at once, and spending too many words repeating the background you were given.
Word count and the spell checker
The writing interface shows a live word count and offers spell check. 150 to 200 words is the official target range. CELPIP also states that being slightly under or over the suggested length leaves some room, but a response that is clearly too short or clearly too long may affect your final result.
The reason is practical rather than arithmetic. Short responses usually lack enough ideas and detail to be rated well. Long responses drift off topic, repeat themselves, and leave no time to check. When you practise, aim to keep the body of your response comfortably inside the range instead of treating 200 words as a wall you must stop at exactly.
Do not trust spell check to protect your grammar. It can flag a misspelled word, but it will not tell you that form should have been from, or that advice should have been advise. A correctly spelled wrong word passes straight through.
CELPIP Writing is not only about grammar
The official scoring covers four dimensions: Content / Coherence, Vocabulary, Readability, and Task Fulfillment. In other words, a response with very few grammar errors that misses one of the required points will not automatically score well — and a response full of ideas that is disorganised or written in the wrong tone will lose points too.
The safest approach is to read the reader, the purpose, and every requirement before you write; settle on two or three main ideas; and give each one a reason, a consequence, or an example.
How to spend the minutes
CELPIP official 2026 preparation material suggests roughly 4 to 5 minutes of planning per task and about 3 minutes of checking after you finish writing.
- Plan (4-5 min): reader, purpose, point 1, point 2, point 3, and the action you want.
- Write (about 20 min): one clear function per paragraph.
- Check (about 3 min): first confirm every requirement is answered, then look at paragraphing, connectors, verb tense, subject-verb agreement, singular and plural, spelling, and punctuation.
The template trap
Another common mistake is hunting for a universal template. A fixed structure genuinely helps you manage time, but memorised paragraphs often do not match the prompt, and they eat the word budget you need for real content.
A better preparation is to learn what each task has to do. Task 1 has to make the reader understand what happened, why you are writing, and what you want them to do. Task 2 has to make the reader understand your choice, your reasons, and your argument. Structure should serve content, not replace it.
There is no universal pass mark
CELPIP does not publish a single passing score. You receive a CELPIP level for Writing, and the level you need depends on the immigration program, school, professional body, or other organisation that will receive your result. Before you set a target, check that organisation’s current requirement rather than assuming that the “Writing 7” or “Writing 9” you saw online applies to you.
FAQs
How many writing tasks are there and how long is the section? Two tasks, 53 minutes total — 27 minutes for the Task 1 email and 26 minutes for the Task 2 survey response.
Do I have to write exactly 150 to 200 words? No. That is the suggested range, and being slightly outside it leaves some room. Being clearly too short or clearly too long may affect your result.
Does the spell checker fix my grammar? No. It catches some spelling problems only. Word choice, collocation, and grammar are still your job.
Next, read our guide to writing the Task 1 email and answering the Task 2 survey question.