CELPIP Writing has two tasks, and both are here: Writing an Email and Responding to Survey Questions. Pick one above and its page lists the prompts available for it, along with what that task is marked on.
Every exercise gives you the prompt and a writing area. Draft your response the way you would on test day, then submit it for scoring. What comes back is a score together with written feedback on the text you produced - where it held together, and where it drifted away from what the prompt actually asked for.
Where a prompt includes sample responses, read them after you have written your own, never before. Their value is in the comparison: structure, register, how the argument is ordered, all measured against a draft that is still fresh in your head rather than copied from a template you will not recall under pressure.
When a score lands lower than you expected, rewrite that same prompt rather than moving on to a new one. The second attempt is the one where feedback turns into a habit you can repeat. Neither task rewards length for its own sake, so resist padding a thin answer to make it look substantial.
Anything labelled FREE is yours without a subscription; Pro unlocks the remaining prompts.
CELPIP Writing Practice: the full guide
What is the CELPIP Writing test format?
CELPIP Writing is two tasks in 53 to 60 minutes: an email, then a response to survey questions. Both want 150 to 200 words, and the word count is a guide rather than a target to pad towards - a tight 160 words scores better than a padded 200.
You type into a plain box with a word counter. There is no spellchecker, which is worth rehearsing: the errors you never notice on a phone are the ones that cost you marks here.
CELPIP Writing: the two tasks
Task
What you write
Length
Time
Task 1 - Writing an Email
An email to a named reader, for a stated purpose
150-200 words
27 minutes
Task 2 - Responding to Survey Questions
A case for one of two options, with reasons
150-200 words
26 minutes
Task lengths from celpip.ca; the per-task minutes are the windows our own timed player enforces, matching the exam.
How long is the CELPIP Writing test?
About 53 minutes of writing time, split 27 for the email and 26 for the survey response. Each task has its own clock, so time saved on the first does not carry over to the second.
A workable split inside each task: three or four minutes deciding what you are actually going to say, twenty writing it, and the last three reading it back. Most people skip the last step and lose marks to errors they would have caught.
Where can I take a free CELPIP Writing practice test with answers?
On this page. Every part of CELPIP Writing above has free exercises, they need no card, and you can start without an account. Free prompts come with sample responses, and new accounts get two AI-scored submissions per skill so you can see the feedback before paying.
Being straight about the limit: the free set is a sample of each part rather than the whole bank, and full-length timed mock tests are a Pro feature. What you can do for nothing is work every part type, see the answer key, and find out where you actually stand before deciding whether to pay.
Try a sample CELPIP Writing task
Here is a Task 1 prompt in the exam's shape, with what a strong response actually does. Written for this page, not taken from a real test.
Prompt
The building manager has announced that the resident parking area will be closed for resurfacing for three weeks. Write an email to the building manager. Explain how the closure affects you, and suggest an arrangement that would work during the three weeks.
What separates a strong response from an average one here?
Answer: Purpose. Both parts of the instruction have to be visibly answered: the effect on you, and a concrete suggestion. An average response describes the inconvenience at length and then offers something vague like "please find a solution". A strong one names the effect in a sentence - a night shift, a permit that does not cover the side street - and then proposes something specific and reasonable, such as temporary permits for the adjacent lot for the three weeks. Register matters too: this is a neighbour writing to a manager, so it should be polite and direct rather than either chatty or formal to the point of stiffness. Task Fulfillment is the criterion most often lost here, and it is lost by answering only half the prompt.
How is CELPIP Writing scored?
On four criteria: Content and Coherence, Vocabulary, Readability, and Task Fulfillment. Length is not one of them. Neither is using ambitious words you cannot control - a misused advanced word costs you more in Vocabulary than a plain accurate one.
Submit a response here and it comes back with an estimated level and written feedback against each criterion, so you can see which one is dragging the score. Fix the lowest first and re-write the same prompt rather than moving to a new one; the second attempt is where feedback turns into a habit. Scores run from 1 to 12 on a scale aligned to the Canadian Language Benchmarks. What you need depends on why you are sitting the exam - IRCC publishes the current minimums, and those are the numbers to work back from.
Frequently asked questions
150 to 200 for each task. Going under looks like an incomplete answer; going well over usually means padding, which costs you on Coherence without gaining anything. Aim for the middle and spend the surplus time proofreading.
No. The writing box has a word counter and nothing else, so practise without autocorrect - typing on a phone keyboard that fixes your errors builds exactly the wrong habit.
For the email, no - it is meant to read as an email in continuous prose. Structure it with short paragraphs instead. The survey response is also expected in prose.
The test is typed, and typing speed does matter indirectly: at 150 to 200 words in under 27 minutes, a slow typist loses the proofreading time rather than the writing time. It is worth timing yourself once to find out.
Task 1 is an email to a specific reader with a purpose, so register and addressing the reader matter. Task 2 asks you to choose between two options and argue for one, so the marks are in committing to a position and supporting it rather than weighing both evenly.