Do I need a subject line or addresses?
No. The official format needs only a greeting, body paragraphs, a sign-off, and a name, and the name can be invented. To and From lines or postal addresses just spend words that earn nothing.
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Writing Task 1Demo
Writing an Email
The exact exam interface with a sample question. Nothing you do here is saved.
CELPIP Writing (Demo) - Task 1 1/1
Time remaining: 27 minutes
Read the following message.
You recently learned that your local public library is planning to reduce its opening hours starting next month. The library says fewer people are visiting in the evenings. You visit the library every week with your two children, and many people in your neighbourhood rely on its programs.
Write an email to the chief librarian in about 150-200 words. Your email should do the following things:
- Explain who you are and how you use the library
- Describe how the shorter hours would affect you and other people in the area
- Suggest one way the library could save money without cutting its hours
With a free account you write your answer here in a 27 minute timer, with a live word counter and a spell checker.
Demo question. The timer starts in real practice.
Writing Task 1: Writing an Email
Task 1 asks you to write an email of about 150 to 200 words in 27 minutes. Raters look for a clear purpose statement, one paragraph per bullet point, and a tone that fits the reader.
27 minutes150 to 200 wordsSemi-formal email
In real practice
- Your response is scored by AI, with a CLB style report and feedback on all four writing dimensions.
- You can generate a personalized sample answer with sentence by sentence grammar notes.
- Your drafts and attempts are saved, so you can track progress across the whole question bank.
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CELPIP Writing Task 1 Guide:Email Writing Tips, Template and CLB 9 Sample
In Task 1 you read a short everyday scenario and write an email about it in 27 minutes. The reader is someone like a manager, a librarian, or a landlord, and the prompt lists the points your email must cover. Raters are not judging your ideas as such, they are judging whether you cover every point clearly in a tone that fits the reader. The demo above is the exact interface you get on test day.
The format at a glance
Time limit
27 minutes for the whole task, with a live word counter and a spell checker on screen
Length
About 150 to 200 words, covering every bullet point the prompt lists, usually three
Reader
An everyday contact such as a manager, librarian, or landlord. Official guidance: neither too formal nor too informal
How Task 1 is scored
Two trained raters score every writing task on four equally weighted dimensions, and Task 1 alone carries half of your Writing result. Knowing what each dimension rewards tells you where the points are.
Content and Coherence
The number, quality, and order of your ideas, plus examples and supporting details. A clear purpose statement up front and one specific detail per bullet point is the pattern raters reward.
Vocabulary
Word choice, range, and precision. Paraphrase instead of recycling the prompt's wording, and swap a word you have already used for a synonym the second time you need it.
Readability
Paragraphing, transitions, grammar, spelling, and punctuation. A greeting, one paragraph per point, and a sign-off make the email easy to follow, and accumulated comma errors are a real cost here.
Task Fulfillment
Relevance, completeness, tone, and word count. Every bullet answered, in a tone that suits the reader, at a length inside the range. Skipping one bullet cost an official Level 9 sample dearly.
A 27 minute plan that works
Plan in point formfirst 4 to 5 minutes
Brainstorm for two or three minutes, pick one main idea per bullet point, attach one supporting detail to each, and draft your purpose statement before you write the email itself.
Greeting and purpose2 to 3 minutes
Open with Dear plus a title and name, or Dear Sir or Madam. Then state your reason for writing in the first paragraph, no addresses, no subject line, and an invented name is explicitly allowed.
One paragraph per bulletabout 15 minutes
Handle the bullets in the order given, at least one sentence each and more for the complex ones. Support every point with one concrete detail, a name, a date, or a street always beats a vague phrase like soon.
Close, sign off, proofreadfinal 4 to 5 minutes
End with one sentence that says what you want to happen next, add a sign-off like Kind regards plus a name, then spend the last minutes hunting the mistake types you personally make most often.
Phrases that carry a semi-formal email
These openers, requests, and closers fit almost any Task 1 recipient. Practice them until they come out on their own, so your thinking time goes into the details instead.
I am writing to inquire about...I am writing to express my concern about...Would it be possible to...?I would appreciate it if you could...Please let me know if...I look forward to hearing from you.
Mistakes that cost points
Skipping a bullet pointTask Fulfillment
Completeness is an explicit scoring factor. An official Level 9 sample was marked down with the note that the third task was not addressed, so answer all of them, every time.
Texting language and all capsTask Fulfillment
Forms like gonna, wanna, and u are explicitly banned along with emojis, and all caps reads as yelling. Overly stiff or harsh phrasing damages the tone check as well.
A buried purpose statementContent and Coherence
Raters expect the reason for writing in the first paragraph. An official Level 7 analysis flagged a purpose that only surfaced in the second paragraph.
One solid block of textReadability
Missing paragraphs hurt Readability even when the grammar is nearly clean, exactly what an official Level 9 analysis pointed out. One paragraph per bullet fixes it.
Copying the prompt's wordsVocabulary
Reusing phrases from the question is penalized under Vocabulary. Paraphrase everything the prompt gives you, it is the cheapest way to show range.
Task 1 questions people ask
How formal should the email be?
Neither too formal nor too informal, which is the official guidance. Step up the formality for managers and companies, stay warm and polite with neighbours, and avoid slang and sarcasm with everyone.
What if I write fewer than 150 words?
Word count is a listed Task Fulfillment factor, so falling clearly short costs points. Padding with memorized stock sentences does not rescue it either, raters reward specific, relevant detail, not length for its own sake.
