CELPIP Writing: two tasks in 53 minutes, the four categories raters score, and Paragon's own advice
Writing is the third component of CELPIP-General and the first of the two that people mark. That changes what is worth knowing: not a raw-score chart, but the four categories and sixteen factors the raters hold a response against, how many raters read it, and the on-screen tools and timings Paragon itself describes. This page gathers those with their sources, and marks the paragraphs that are our reading rather than Paragon's words.
The component in six numbers
The two tasks
Paragon's test-format page names them and gives the component one clock: Task 1, Writing an Email, and Task 2, Responding to Survey Questions, in 53 minutes. It does not split the time between them on that page; its study tips describe the time within a task instead, and that description is reproduced below. Each task shows a suggested word count and a word counter beneath the response box.
Task 1: Writing an Email
What Paragon's advice says applies here in particular, in our reading: use greetings and sign-offs if the task requires them, keep the tone the task asks for, and address every part of the prompt. Tone and completeness are scored factors under Task Fulfillment, and format and paragraphing under Readability.
Task 2: Responding to Survey Questions
A survey puts a question and asks for a response; in our reading the scored factors that bite are the number and quality of ideas, examples and supporting details, and organisation, all under Content/Coherence, with connectors and transitions under Readability.
What the raters score: four categories, sixteen factors
Paragon's Writing performance standards, reproduced as published. Each category is divided into five performance levels with descriptors, and a rater assigns a level by matching tangible evidence in the response to a descriptor.
Content/Coherence
- Number of ideas
- Quality of ideas
- Organization of ideas
- Examples and supporting details
Vocabulary
- Word choice
- Suitable use of words and phrases
- Range of words and phrases
- Precision and accuracy
Readability
- Format and paragraphing
- Connectors and transitions
- Grammar and sentence structure
- Spelling and punctuation
Task Fulfillment
- Relevance
- Completeness
- Tone
- Word count
Source: Paragon, CELPIP Results, Writing Performance Standards. Checked 6 September 2026.
In our reading, the list answers the question candidates ask most, which is where the marks go. Grammar is one factor of sixteen, inside Readability, alongside spelling, paragraphing and transitions. Vocabulary is a whole category, and its factors are about choice, suitability and range, not difficulty. And Task Fulfillment ends in word count: a response that is significantly short or long loses on a category that has nothing to do with English, which is why Paragon puts a counter under the box.
A Writing performance is read by four to six raters, assigned at random with the candidate anonymous, working independently; if their ratings disagree, a benchmark rater who has not seen them is assigned. The dimensional ratings become a component score, and the score becomes a CELPIP level by rules from a standard-setting exercise. The full procedure is on the scoring page.
Paragon's own advice for Writing
- Address all parts of the task. Follow all instructions and fully develop every part, supporting main ideas with relevant details.
- Practise on a computer. The test is fully computer-delivered; comfort with a mouse and keyboard helps.
- Organise. Plan a framework so ideas flow logically; make an outline before writing; use appropriate transitions; use greetings and sign-offs where required.
- Range. Use diverse, natural vocabulary with appropriate word choice, and varied, correct grammatical structures in sentences of varying length and complexity.
- Word count. There is a little room under or over the suggested count, but a score may suffer if significantly over or under; a word counter sits under each task.
- Time. Use the first five minutes to plan, leave five to seven minutes at the end to revise, and spend the rest writing.
- Reread. Leave time to review, watching for the errors you most commonly make. The test includes an automatic spelling checker, but choosing the right word from its suggestions can be difficult.
Source: Paragon, Tips & Resources, Study Tips from the Experts, Writing. Checked 6 September 2026.
What follows from it, in our reading: with 53 minutes for two tasks, Paragon's own timing leaves roughly a quarter of each task to planning and revising and the rest to writing, so the plan has to be short and the revision has to be a search for your known errors rather than a reread for pleasure. The spell checker removes one factor's worth of easy losses and adds a new one: a wrong suggestion accepted in haste is a word-choice error under Vocabulary as well.
Practice on this site marks each task on the same four categories under the same names, Content and Coherence, Vocabulary, Readability and Task Fulfillment, so that a weak category on a practice report is the category a rater would find; the writing box carries a spell checker, as the real one does.
Questions candidates ask
What is in the CELPIP Writing test?
Two tasks in 53 minutes, per Paragon's test-format page: Task 1, Writing an Email, and Task 2, Responding to Survey Questions. Paragon does not publish a per-task time split on that page; its study tips describe managing the time within each task as five minutes to plan, most of the time to write, and five to seven minutes to revise.
How many words should I write?
Paragon's tips page says each task has a suggested word count, that there is a little room to be under or over it, that a score may suffer if the response is significantly over or under, and that a word counter sits under each task so you can track it. The pages cited here do not print the figure itself, so this page does not either; the task on screen does.
Is there a spell checker?
Yes. Paragon's tips page says the Writing test includes an automatic spelling checker, and adds the caveat that it is sometimes difficult to choose the right word when the checker offers a choice. Spelling and punctuation remain a scored factor under Readability.
Who marks it, and on what?
Human raters, four to six per Writing performance according to Paragon's rating procedure, working independently and anonymously, with a benchmark rater assigned automatically if they disagree. They score four categories, each with four factors, listed on this page as Paragon publishes them, and each category is divided into five performance levels with descriptors.
Does the email need a greeting and a sign-off?
Paragon's advice says to use greetings and sign-offs if they are required by the task, and lists tone under Task Fulfillment and format and paragraphing under Readability. An email without the shape of an email is scored on both.
Can I write by hand or dictate?
No. The test is fully computer-delivered, and Paragon's FAQ says you must be familiar with a mouse and keyboard; its tips say to practise on a computer for that reason. The centre provides a standard QWERTY keyboard.
Is a re-evaluation worth it for Writing?
It is the component where Paragon says a change is possible. A re-evaluation can be requested within six months, once per component, for a fee that is refunded if the Writing level rises. Paragon contrasts this with Listening and Reading, where a re-evaluation is unlikely to change anything because they are computer-rated.
Is Writing in the CELPIP-General LS test?
No. The LS test has Listening and Speaking only and is accepted for citizenship only. Writing is scored in CELPIP-General, the test IRCC lists for Express Entry and the PGWP, where the requirement applies to all four abilities.
Sources
- Paragon, CELPIP Test Format — 53 minutes and the two tasks.
- Paragon, Tips & Resources — Study Tips from the Experts, Writing: the word counter, the spell checker, the plan-write-revise timing.
- Paragon, CELPIP Results — Writing performance standards, the rating procedure, re-evaluation.
- Paragon, CELPIP FAQs — computer familiarity.
Checked 6 September 2026. The suggested word counts are shown on the tasks themselves and are not printed on the pages cited here, so they are not printed on this page. The paragraphs marked as our reading are ours; everything else is Paragon's, and Paragon's pages can change.
In this series: Listening guide · Reading guide · Speaking guide · how CELPIP is scored · registration, fee and test day · CLB calculator.