CELPIP General at a glance
By Michael Ukwuma
The four tests, their parts, timing and how they are scored, in plain words.
You cannot beat a test you do not understand. So before any strategy, here is the whole map. Everything below comes from Paragon's official test format and scoring pages.
The order and the time
CELPIP General is taken on a computer in one sitting of just under three hours. The order is always the same: Listening, Reading, Writing, then Speaking.
Listening: 6 parts, 38 questions
Every recording plays once. You cannot pause or replay. You get pen and paper for notes.
- Part 1, Problem Solving: 8 questions about a conversation in three sections.
- Part 2, Daily Life Conversation: 5 questions.
- Part 3, Listening for Information: 6 questions, someone asking an expert.
- Part 4, News Item: 5 questions, one speaker.
- Part 5, Discussion: 8 questions, a video with three speakers.
- Part 6, Viewpoints: 6 questions, a talk of about three minutes.
In Parts 1 to 3 the questions appear after each piece of audio. In Parts 4 to 6 you answer after the audio ends.
Reading: 4 parts, 38 questions
- Part 1, Correspondence: 11 questions about a friendly email and a reply.
- Part 2, Applying a Diagram: 8 questions about a flyer, schedule or chart and an email.
- Part 3, Information: 9 questions. Match each statement to a paragraph, or choose E if it is not there.
- Part 4, Viewpoints: 10 questions about an article with different opinions and a reader's comment.
The parts get harder as you go. You cannot go back to a part once you leave it, and time does not carry over.
Writing: 2 tasks
- Task 1, Writing an Email: 27 minutes, 150 to 200 words.
- Task 2, Responding to Survey Questions: 26 minutes, 150 to 200 words. You choose one of two options and explain why.
Speaking: 8 tasks
- Task 1, Giving Advice: 30 seconds to prepare, 90 seconds to speak.
- Task 2, Personal Experience: 30 and 60.
- Task 3, Describing a Scene: 30 and 60.
- Task 4, Making Predictions: 30 and 60.
- Task 5, Comparing and Persuading: 60 seconds to choose, 60 to prepare, 60 to speak.
- Task 6, Dealing with a Difficult Situation: 60 and 60.
- Task 7, Expressing Opinions: 30 and 90.
- Task 8, Describing an Unusual Situation: 30 and 60.
How it is scored
Listening and Reading are scored by computer. Each answer is right or wrong. A blank counts as wrong and there is no penalty for guessing. So never leave a blank.
Writing and Speaking are scored by trained human raters, not by a computer. Each looks at Content and Coherence, Vocabulary, Readability or Listenability, and Task Fulfillment.
Some questions in Reading and Listening may be unscored trial items. You cannot tell which ones, so give every question your best.
Key points
- Listening, Reading, Writing, Speaking, in that order.
- Never leave a blank in Reading or Listening.
- Writing and Speaking are marked by people against four criteria.