CELPIP WRITING · TASK 2
CELPIP Writing Task 2: choose a position and make it easy to believe.
Task 2 is officially called Responding to Survey Questions. Your job is not to discover the objectively correct option. Your job is to choose one option and develop a clear, relevant response that fits the situation.
The core decision: choose the side you can develop
Do not spend several minutes deciding which option is morally or practically perfect. Choose the option that gives you two clear, distinct reasons you can explain with specific support. A simple position with developed evidence is stronger preparation than a complicated position with shallow claims.
A flexible response structure
- State the choice early. The reader should know your position without searching for it.
- Develop reason one. Explain why it matters in this scenario, then add an example, result or practical detail.
- Develop reason two. Make it genuinely different from the first reason and support it.
- Close the argument. Restate the recommendation or show why the benefits outweigh the alternative.
You may briefly acknowledge the other option when it helps your argument, but you do not need to divide the response equally between both choices. Your main job is to support the position you selected.
Turn reasons into developed arguments
SHALLOW REASON
“Option A is more convenient.”
This names a benefit but does not explain who benefits, how it changes the situation or why it should influence the decision.
DEVELOPED REASON
Reason → detail → consequence.
Explain what creates the convenience, give a concrete scenario, then connect that result back to the survey decision.
A practical 26-minute workflow
| Stage | Decision to make |
|---|---|
| Read | What exactly must be chosen, and what constraints in the scenario matter? |
| Plan | Which option gives you two different reasons with specific support? |
| Write | Does every paragraph move the argument forward instead of repeating the same benefit? |
| Review | Is the position obvious, support specific, language natural and response complete? |
Use the four official Writing dimensions
CELPIP evaluates Writing through Content/Coherence, Vocabulary, Readability and Task Fulfillment. For Task 2, those dimensions translate into practical questions:
- Content/Coherence: Is there one clear position? Are the reasons distinct and developed?
- Vocabulary: Are the words precise enough to express comparison, consequence and recommendation naturally?
- Readability: Can the reader follow the argument through paragraphing, transitions and controlled sentences?
- Task Fulfillment: Did you actually choose an option, respond to the scenario and complete the requested task?
Common Task 2 traps
- Listing three or four reasons with no depth. Two developed reasons are usually easier to control.
- Repeating the same reason using different words. Cost and affordability may be one argument, not two.
- Writing a generic opinion essay. Keep referring to the people, constraints or outcome in the prompt.
- Adding a long counterargument. Do not spend half the response strengthening the option you rejected.
- Using memorized transitions everywhere. Connections should clarify logic, not decorate the response.
How to practise for transfer, not memorization
Rotate survey topics across community decisions, workplace policies, housing, transportation, recreation and services. After each response, underline the sentence that states your choice, circle the support for each reason and check whether those details could only belong to that specific prompt. If the same response could fit almost any topic, your support is probably too generic.