Task 5 takes three minutes of your test and you speak for one of them.
That sentence is the whole task, and almost every method you will find online plans the minute you speak and ignores the two you do not.
Here is the official description:
In Part 1, select an option from two choices. You will not speak in Part 1. In Part 2, persuade someone that your chosen option is better than the one they are proposing.
Read the last nine words. The one they are proposing. You do not know what that is yet. In Part 1 you see two options and you pick one. Only then does the other person's suggestion appear, and it is not one of the two you were shown.
That is the part that surprises people on test day, and it is why a plan built entirely around Part 1 falls over.
| Prep | Speaking |
|---|
| Part 1, compare and choose | 60 seconds | none |
| Part 2, persuade | 60 seconds | 60 seconds |
Two things to notice. You get a full minute of preparation in each part, not the thirty seconds most tasks give you. And Part 1 has no speaking time at all. You read, you compare, you choose, and the screen moves on.
🎥 One question, answered twice, with the same choice and the same reasons (10:29)
A real question from the practice bank, taken through all six strategies, then answered twice. The two answers make the same choice and give the same three reasons. Only four things change, and the second one is the reason to watch the first.
Jump to: 2:41 the six strategies · 3:22 minute 2, reading their option · 5:06 talking to the person · 5:31 why details beat more reasons · 6:53 although, which, if, whereas · 9:01 what actually changed between the two answers · 9:14 why this task needs no conclusion
CELPIP publishes six strategies for Task 5. Nothing here is invented, and they fall neatly into the three minutes.
🕐 Minute one. Silent. You choose.
- Read and understand the situation.
- Compare the information provided for the two options.
- Quickly choose which one you prefer to talk about.
Note the word quickly. This minute is not for building an argument, because you cannot build one yet. It is for reading and deciding. If you spend fifty seconds writing reasons for the option you have not committed to, half of them will be useless in thirty seconds' time.
Pick the option you can say the most about, not the one you would choose in real life. Nobody is grading your taste.
🕑 Minute two. Silent. You read what changed.
- Read the information about the new option.
- Think of details and reasons to explain why your choice is better.
This is the minute nothing else teaches, and it is half of your preparation.
Strategy 4 is not optional reading. Until this moment you were comparing your option against a different one, and now the target has moved. The new option has its own strengths printed on the screen, and one of them is the thing you are about to concede.
In this minute, do two things. Find the one true strength of their option, because you are going to say it out loud. And attach one specific detail to each reason you already have.
🕒 Minute three. You talk.
- Use specific language to explain your choice, and expand on the information included with the picture.
Expand on the information. Not repeat it. The screen already says the basket is discounted, or the gym has better machines. Your job is the sentence after that.
The rated Level 8 answer was credited for this:
Addresses the other person directly.
That is the lowest of the three rated answers, and it still got that mark. It is the easiest one on this page to collect.
And on Task 6, a Level 9 answer was docked for the reverse:
Does not address customers directly as instructed.
So it is credited when present and taken away when missing.
| About the option | To the person |
|---|
| The community centre is cheaper | You said you wanted to keep the monthly cost down |
| The other option has better equipment | The one you picked does have better machines |
| It is closer to the house | It is ten minutes from your door |
Say "you" and "we" and mean them. Read the situation again and notice who you are talking to, because it is not always a friend. It may be a manager, a neighbour, a co-worker, and that changes how you open.
This is the one that costs people the most, and it is the opposite of what feels safe.
The rated Level 8 answer was described as:
Provides three main ideas.
Three. Not too few. And then the note beside it says:
More development of ideas (examples or details) would improve the content.
So the answer had enough ideas and not enough inside them. Adding a fourth reason would not have moved it.
CELPIP prescribes no number of reasons or benefits for this task. Two is not the rule and neither is three. What is graded is whether each one has something specific attached.
| Stated and left alone | Developed |
|---|
| It is cheaper | Thirty dollars against seventy-five, so we keep forty-five a month for the same two workouts |
| It is closer | Ten minutes from your door, and the other one is a bus ride each way |
| We would actually go | If we join the expensive one and go twice a month, we have paid seventy-five dollars for two visits |
Each right-hand cell is one sentence longer. That sentence is where your score is.
A test you can run on any reason you write: could this sentence be true of a completely different situation? It is cheaper fits a thousand questions. Thirty dollars against seventy-five fits only yours.
The three rated answers climb on tone, and you can read the ladder in three lines.
Level 8:
Sounding more excited to go into business with his friend would improve tone.
Level 9:
Establishes a friendly but persuasive tone.
Level 12:
Establishes a confident and persuasive tone.
Nothing there is about vocabulary. It is about whether you sound like you want the thing you are arguing for.
The way you do it is not by speaking louder. It is by committing to your choice in the first sentence and never taking it back.
❌ I think maybe the community centre could be a better option, but either one is probably fine.
✅ I really want us to join the community centre this month.
Words that undo you: maybe, I guess, probably, it could be, either one is fine, I am not sure but.
Those hedges are normal, polite English and they are correct in ordinary conversation. Inside a Task 5 answer they read as someone who has not decided, and the task is built on having decided.
The clearest evidence in the pack is a list of four words.
The rated Level 8 answer was described as:
Mostly uses simple grammar structures.
The Level 9 answer got closer and still lost something:
Uses complex sentences fairly well, but more variety in sentence structure would improve this dimension.
And the Level 12 answer was credited with:
Uses a variety of complex sentences (e.g., although, which, if, whereas).
Read the Level 9 note again. It says variety, not quantity. Four of the same connector is not what earns that line. Four different ones is.
| Word | What it does in a persuasive answer |
|---|
| although | concedes the one real strength of their option, before your reason |
| which | attaches the detail to the thing, instead of starting a new sentence |
| if | shows the listener the consequence, in their life, not yours |
| whereas | makes the direct comparison, once |
One each. Four in the whole answer. That is enough to earn the variety line, and it is small enough to remember under a clock.
Why although matters most. It is the only one that requires you to have read their option, which is strategy 4. You cannot concede a strength you did not look at. So the concession is not a politeness move, it is proof that you did the second minute properly.
Same choice, same three reasons, same order, same speaker. Only the four moves change.
The situation. You and your brother are joining a gym together. Your choice: the community centre, thirty dollars a month, a ten-minute walk, older machines. His suggestion, which appears in Part 2: a new private gym, seventy-five dollars a month, much better equipment, a bus ride away.
Answer 1: everything the Level 8 notes credit, and nothing above it
Hi, I saw that you want to join the new gym downtown. I think the community centre is better. The first thing is the price. It is thirty dollars a month. The second thing is the distance. The community centre is close to us. The new gym is far away. The third thing is going regularly. We want to go three times a week. The new gym has better machines and it looks very nice, but it costs more money. I think the community centre is the right choice for us. It is better for our budget and it is better for our schedule, and I really think we should sign up this week and try it for one month and see how many times we actually go, and then we can talk about the other one again in
Do not call that a bad answer. It is relevant. It fills the minute. It gives three separate reasons. It speaks to him directly. It has no grammar errors, and the clock cuts it off, which is correct. Everything the Level 8 notes credit, it does.
What it does not do: attach a single specific detail to any of the three, use one complex sentence, or sound like the speaker wants it.
Answer 2: the same three reasons, with the four moves
Hi, I really want us to join the community centre gym this month. Although the one you picked has much better machines, we would be paying for machines we use twice a week, and the community centre is thirty dollars against seventy-five, which is forty-five dollars a month we keep for exactly the same two workouts. The second reason is the walk. The community centre is ten minutes from your door, whereas the new gym is a bus ride each way, and a bus ride at seven in the morning in February is why people stop going in March. And that is the part I am actually worried about. If we join the expensive one and then go twice a month, we have paid seventy-five dollars for two visits, and I know how much you wanted this one to last.
Count what changed. The reasons are identical and in the same order. There are four connectors, one each. Every reason carries a number or a picture. The position is committed in the first sentence. He is spoken to four times.
And notice how it ends. It stops on the third reason. No summary, no closing line, no request.
None of the six strategies asks for a conclusion, a closing, a summary or a request at the end. That was checked by direct negative query and it is not there.
This matters because the habit is everywhere, including on the old version of this page, where every sample answer finished with a line like let's book this one today. Those lines cost you six or seven seconds each and no strategy asks for them.
Spend the seconds on the last reason instead. If the clock cuts you off in the middle of it, that is fine. Stopping early with fifteen seconds of silence is the thing to avoid, because length is a named factor in Task Fulfillment.
If you reach the end of your material and there is time left, go back and add a detail to a reason you already gave. Do not open a new one.
Committing to your choice, in the first sentence
- I really want us to go with [option] this time.
- I would go with [option], and I think it is the right one for what you said you needed.
- Let us take [option]. I know it is not the one you picked, and here is why I think it works better for us.
Talking to the person
- I know you were thinking about…
- You said you wanted…
- The one you picked would…
- For what you need this month…
- I think this one works better for us because…
The concession, using although
- Although the one you picked [their real strength], …
- Although [their option] is [genuine advantage], …
Say something true. A concession that praises a strength their option does not have sounds like you did not read it.
Comparing, using whereas
- Ours is [X], whereas yours is [Y].
Once. Not in every sentence.
The consequence, using if
- If we go with that one, then by [time] we will have [result].
- If you take it, you still have to [cost to them].
Words to keep out of a Task 5 answer
maybe · I guess · probably · it could be · either one is fine · I am not sure but · both are good
Comparing without choosing. The task asks you to persuade, so the choice belongs in the first sentence and never comes back up for review.
Planning your argument in minute one. You do not know what you are arguing against yet. Minute one is for reading and deciding. Minute two is for the argument.
Skipping their option. It appears once, on screen, in Part 2. If you do not read it, you have nothing true to concede and no comparison to make.
Adding a fourth reason instead of developing the first. The rated Level 8 answer had three ideas and was docked on development, not on the count.
Repeating what the screen already says. Strategy 6 says expand on the information. The line after the fact is the one that scores.
Finishing at forty seconds. Length is scored. Being cut off mid-sentence is not the problem. Silence is.
Sounding neutral. A correct, complete, evenly delivered answer is exactly what the Level 8 notes describe. The thing above it sounds like someone who wants the outcome.
1. Concede the strength (3 min). Take any two options and write one sentence that starts Although the one you picked… and finishes with something genuinely good about it. Do this five times. It is the hardest sentence in the task and the fastest one to train.
2. One detail each (5 min). Write three plain reasons for any choice. Then add one number, time or picture to each, without adding a fourth reason. Read both versions aloud and time them.
3. Four words, one each (5 min). Write a short answer that uses although, which, if and whereas exactly once each. It will feel forced the first time. By the fourth attempt it will not.
4. Two full minutes of prep (5 min). Do one real question and actually use both silent minutes, with a timer. Most people have never used the second one and are surprised by how much steadier the answer is.
Related: Fast Planning for Tasks for the notes method across all eight tasks · Task 1: Giving Advice, where speaking to the person is the same move · Scoring and Performance Standards.