CELPIP Writing Task 1 gives you a situation and asks you to write an email about it. The prompt always gives you three bullet points, and your email has to cover all three. You write about 150 to 200 words, and you have 27 minutes.
The two things that decide your score are whether you covered and developed all three bullets, and whether your tone fits the person you are writing to.
The video walks through the same map this page explains, and rebuilds two real prompts from the Practice tab: Q14, a formal complaint and Q7, an informal request to a best friend.
| |
|---|
| Time | 27 minutes |
| Length | About 150 to 200 words. Aim for 180. |
| What you get | A situation and three bullet points |
| What you write | One email that covers all three bullets |
About the word count. Under about 130 words, there is not enough room to develop three bullets, and Task Fulfillment drops. Over about 220 words, rushed grammar and repeated ideas usually cost you more than the extra content gains. 180 leaves you time to check your work.
Every Task 1 prompt is one or the other. The bank is close to half and half, so you cannot assume either one.
Read who the email is going to, before you read anything else.
| Writing to | Tone | What it looks like |
|---|
| A manager, an office, a company, a landlord, a council | Formal | "Dear Building Manager," full forms instead of contractions, polite and direct |
| A friend, a neighbour, a family member | Informal | "Hi Emily," contractions, warmth, still clear and organised |
Writing too formally is a real mistake, not a safe choice. This surprises most people. If the prompt says the email goes to your best friend, and you write "Dear Sir or Madam, I would be honoured to contribute my expertise," you have missed the tone as badly as someone writing "hey what's up" to a company. The examiner marks whether your tone suits the reader, and that works in both directions.
The video covers the tone decision at 3:03 and the too-formal trap at 3:44.
One shape fits every Task 1 prompt, formal or informal. You do not need a memorised template, and a memorised template will hurt you.
1. Greeting.
Match it to the reader. "Dear Translation Services Manager," or "Hi Emily,".
2. Your purpose, in one line.
Say why you are writing before anything else. One sentence.
3. The body: one short paragraph per bullet.
This is the part that decides your score. The prompt gives three bullets, so you write three short paragraphs, one for each, in the order the prompt lists them. Each paragraph makes its point and adds one specific detail.
4. Your ask, and what happens next.
Say exactly what you want the reader to do. Most people leave this vague, and a vague ask is a weak email.
5. Sign-off.
"Kind regards," and your name for formal. "Talk soon," and your name for informal.
The video builds the map at 1:46.
Why one paragraph per bullet matters so much
Task Fulfillment does not ask whether you mentioned all three bullets. It asks whether you covered and developed all three.
One sentence per bullet is mentioning. A short paragraph with one concrete detail is developing. This is the single most common reason a well-written email still scores a 7 instead of a 10, and the fix costs nothing: give each bullet its own paragraph and put one specific thing in it.
More at 4:56.
You are typing into a box. There is no To field, no From field, and no Subject field, because the test does not use them.
Do not write any of these:
- A mailing address, yours or the reader's
- A date line
- A subject line
- A signature block with a job title, a company, a phone number, or a street address
Paragon's own instruction is to leave addresses out, and to sign with your real name or an invented one. Nothing more.
This matters more than it sounds. A full address block, a date, a subject line and a signature block can easily reach 50 words. In a 180-word email, that is more than a quarter of your response spent on text that is not scored, and it comes straight out of the space your three bullets needed.
Your email is scored on four criteria:
- Content and Coherence. Are your ideas developed, and do they connect?
- Vocabulary. Are your words accurate and suitable, not just long?
- Readability. Grammar, sentence variety, punctuation, and paragraphing.
- Task Fulfillment. Did you cover and develop all three bullets, in a tone that fits the reader?
The result is reported as a CELPIP level. Paragon does not publish how the four criteria are weighted against each other, so treat all four as things you cannot ignore.
The video covers the criteria at 1:20.
Paraphrase the prompt, do not copy it. Reusing the prompt's exact sentences gives the examiner no evidence about your own vocabulary.
Use real places, people, and numbers. "A 10-page proposal submitted on September 15th" beats "a document I sent recently." Specific detail is the cheapest way to raise your Content score.
Never use point form. No bullet points and no numbered lists inside the email. Full sentences in paragraphs.
Do not change the given information. If the prompt says the repair was booked for Tuesday, it was Tuesday.
End with a concluding statement. Do not stop mid-thought because time ran out.
Know your own repeat mistakes. Most people make the same three or four errors every time. Find yours, and look for those specifically in your last few minutes.
| Minutes | What you do |
|---|
| About 5 | Read the prompt. Decide formal or informal. Write down the three bullets and one specific detail for each. |
| About 18 | Write the email, following the five parts. Do not stop to edit. |
| About 4 | Check it. Read once for meaning, once for grammar, once for your own repeat mistakes. |
Five minutes of planning feels expensive. It is what stops you from rewriting your second paragraph three times.
A complaint to a company about a badly translated business document.
Dear Translation Services Manager,
I am writing regarding a recent translation completed by your company.
On September 15th, I submitted our quarterly business proposal, a 10-page document detailing our product specifications and partnership terms, for translation from English into Mandarin Chinese. The agreed deadline was September 18th.
While the file did arrive on time, numerous critical errors were identified. Technical specifications were mistranslated, causing confusion about our product capabilities, and several pricing values were converted incorrectly. These errors led to an uncomfortable meeting with our partners in Shanghai, where we spent almost an hour correcting figures we had already approved, and our credibility suffered as a result.
Given the impact, I believe a 50% refund would be reasonable compensation, and I would be grateful if you could confirm this by the end of next week. I would also recommend a specialized review process for technical documents, involving subject-matter experts alongside your linguists, which would prevent the same problem reaching other clients.
I appreciate your attention and look forward to your response.
Kind regards,
Dr. Elizabeth Chen
Look at what each paragraph does. Bullet one gets the document and the date, with the page count and the deadline. Bullet two gets the exact errors and what they actually caused, a real meeting in a real city with a real cost in time. Bullet three gets the ask, 50%, with a date attached to it, plus a suggested improvement. No address block, no subject line, no phone number.
This one is rebuilt on camera at 8:09.
Helping a best friend plan a surprise anniversary party for her parents.
Hi Emily,
I'm so excited you're planning a surprise anniversary party for your mum and dad. Count me in! You know I've organized a bunch of these, including that charity gala at the Cultural Centre last month, so I can't wait to help make this one special.
I've already got a few ideas. What about the newly renovated Heritage Hall? It has that elegant-but-cosy feel that would suit your parents perfectly. We could go with soft lighting, fresh flowers, and a little photo display of their journey together. For entertainment, some live music tied to their story.
Here's how I can take the pressure off you: I'll handle the vendors I trust (the caterer and the decorators) and manage the timing on the day so the surprise actually stays a surprise. You just pass me the guest list and a budget.
Want to grab lunch next week and map it all out? So happy to help.
Talk soon,
Alex
Same five parts, completely different voice. Contractions throughout, a real venue name, a real past event, and a specific split of who does what. It is warm and it is still organised, which is what a 10 looks like on an informal task.
Rebuilt on camera at 9:48.
Missing or thin bullets. Covering two bullets well and the third in half a sentence caps your Task Fulfillment.
One long block of text. Three bullets should produce visible paragraphs. A single block is harder to read and it hides your structure from the examiner.
Tone that does not fit the reader. Corporate English to a best friend, or casual English to a company. Both are marked.
A vague ask. "Please look into this" gives the reader nothing to do. "I believe a 50% refund would be reasonable" does.
Address blocks, date lines and subject lines. Not asked for, not scored, and expensive in a 180-word email.
Copying the prompt's wording. It gives the examiner nothing to score.
No time left to check. Careless errors in the final paragraph pull the whole response down a level.
Six checks, and they take about four minutes:
- Did I cover all three bullets, each with its own paragraph?
- Does each paragraph have one specific detail in it?
- Does my tone match the reader, formal or informal?
- Is my ask clear enough that the reader knows exactly what to do?
- Am I between 150 and 200 words, with no address block or subject line?
- Did I check for the mistakes I know I repeat?
The video's checklist is at 10:34.
Reading about the map will not move your score. Writing four or five emails and reading the feedback will.
Start with the Pet Sitting prompt, which is free and informal, then try the Translation Complaint to practise the formal tone. Work through the Practice tab with the timer running. Every email you submit comes back with a score on all four criteria and specific feedback.
For the structure in one place, see the Task 1 answer template and the words that come up most often in Task 1 emails. For the other half of the Writing test, see Task 2, Responding to Survey Questions. To practise both tasks back to back under real timing, use a full mock exam.
