By Kerem Gurel, founder of CELPIP Practice, an independent preparation platform.
You may write emails at work and still find CELPIP writing practice difficult. Start with a familiar problem: explain what happened and ask someone to act. Plan the message, write your response, and revise it against the reader’s needs.
This guide uses a workplace scheduling problem to show that process. You can complete the exercise without buying a course. The prompt and example below are original teaching material, not an official test question or a graded answer.
What does CELPIP Writing Task 1 ask you to do?
The official CELPIP-General test format includes two writing tasks: an email and a response to survey questions. This article focuses on the email task. Use the instructions on your practice prompt for timing and length.
A workplace email gives you a concrete way to practise purpose, detail and tone. Your manager needs to know what you are requesting, why it matters and how your proposal affects the team. Clear grammar helps, but it cannot supply an explanation you forgot to include.
Try this original workplace email prompt
Your employer has scheduled a compulsory training session for Thursday afternoon. You already have a client appointment at that time. Write an email to your manager that:
– Explains the scheduling conflict.
– Suggests a way to complete the training.
– Explains how you will protect your team’s work commitments.
For this exercise, aim for 150-200 words. Try writing your own answer before reading the example.
Spend two minutes planning. Write three short notes: client appointment already confirmed; attend Friday’s training; keep the appointment and complete the handover. These notes give every paragraph a job. They are a plan for this situation, not sentences to memorise for every email.
CELPIP email writing practice: a complete example
Dear Ms. Patel,
I am writing to ask whether I could attend Friday’s training session instead of the session scheduled for Thursday afternoon. I have a client appointment at 2 p.m. on Thursday that was confirmed before the training invitation arrived.
The client has arranged time away from work to meet us, so moving the appointment at short notice would be inconvenient for them. We also need their approval before the team can begin the next stage of the project.
If there is space in Friday’s session, I can attend then and complete the preparation materials on Thursday morning. I will keep the client appointment as planned and send the project team a written update before the end of the day. This would allow me to finish the training without delaying our handover.
Please let me know whether this arrangement would be possible. If Friday is already full, I would appreciate your advice on another session I could attend.
Thank you for considering my request.
Kind regards,
Sam
Why these details help the reader
The opening names the request immediately. The next paragraph explains a consequence: rescheduling would inconvenience the client and delay approval. That is more useful than saying the meeting is “very important.”
The proposed solution also covers the third instruction. Attending on Friday addresses the training problem; keeping Thursday’s appointment and sending an update protects the project. A reader can understand the plan without asking several follow-up questions.
The final paragraph leaves room for the manager to decline. “If Friday is already full” acknowledges a practical constraint. Politeness comes from the whole message, including a workable proposal, rather than from adding elaborate phrases.
Revise vague sentences into specific requests
Compare these short excerpts:
| First attempt | Clearer revision | What changed |
|—|—|—|
| I cannot come because I am busy. | I have a client appointment at 2 p.m. that was confirmed before the invitation arrived. | Names the conflict and explains the sequence. |
| You must change my training. | Would it be possible for me to attend Friday’s session? | Makes a specific, respectful request. |
| I will manage everything. | I will send the project team a written update before the end of the day. | Replaces a broad promise with an observable action. |
These are revision examples, not a claim that one phrase earns a particular score. Choose details that fit the prompt you receive. Do not invent a client appointment when the question asks about a damaged delivery.
A 20-minute practice routine after work
Use two minutes to plan, twelve to write and six to review. This is a learning drill, not the official task timer. In a later session, practise with the timing shown in an official sample.
During review, underline the sentence that answers each instruction. If you cannot find one, fix that omission first. Then check whether the request is clear, the dates are consistent and the tone suits the recipient. Finish by checking verb forms, spelling and repeated words.
Keep a short error log. Write “I forgot to explain the effect on the team,” followed by the sentence you added. On your next attempt, see whether the same omission returns. A corrected answer is useful only if you can apply the correction to a new situation.
For printable practice and review sheets, use CELPIP Practice’s free prep workbook. The 26-page pack covers all four skills and can be downloaded without an account or email address.
Should you memorise a CELPIP email template?
Memorise the questions you need to answer: Who is reading? Why am I writing? What details do they need? What should happen next?
A fixed block of prose can be difficult to adapt when the situation changes.
For your next exercise, ask for replacement equipment instead of a different training session. Keep the planning method, but change every detail that belongs to the original scenario. That is a useful check that you are practising communication rather than reproducing an answer.
