Most CELPIP test takers don't lose points because of poor English — they lose points because of avoidable mistakes. Bad time management, misread instructions, filler words, wrong tone — these are the things that drag scores down from a 9 to a 7.
After working with hundreds of test takers, we keep seeing the same patterns over and over. Here are the 15 mistakes that cost the most points — and how to fix each one.
Many test takers try to absorb every single word from the audio clip. This leads to mental overload — and when the questions come up, everything blurs together.
The fix: Listen for key information only: names, numbers, times, decisions, and opinions. Don't try to memorize the conversation word-for-word. Instead, focus on what's being decided or concluded.
Use the notepaper provided at the test center. Jot down quick keywords — not full sentences — while listening. Even writing "Mon" or "$50" can be enough to trigger your memory when answering.
You miss one question, start thinking about it, and suddenly you've missed the next two as well. This snowball effect is one of the biggest point killers in the Listening section.
What to do instead: Accept that the audio clip has moved on — and so should you. There's no penalty for wrong answers, so mark your best guess and immediately refocus on the current audio. One missed question is recoverable. Three missed questions because you were distracted is not.
Before each audio clip, the screen displays a brief setup — who's speaking, what the situation is, and sometimes the topic. Many test takers barely glance at this.
Don't skip it. Read the context carefully. Knowing that the conversation is between a "customer and a hotel receptionist" immediately helps you predict vocabulary, tone, and the kind of information you'll hear. This 10-second preview is free — use it.
The unscored practice task at the beginning of the Listening section isn't just a warm-up. It's your chance to make sure your headset actually works properly.
How to use it: Adjust your headset volume to a comfortable level during this task. Make sure you can hear clearly without the volume being so high that it's distorted. Also use this time to settle into the test environment — take a breath and get focused.
The Reading section trips people up differently than Listening — here, it's not about missing information, it's about wasting time.
The Reading section gives you long passages, and many test takers read every single word from start to finish before looking at any questions. This eats through your time budget fast.
The fix: Skim first, then scan. Read the first sentence of each paragraph to understand the structure. Then go to the questions and scan back to the relevant section for specific answers. You don't need to understand every sentence — you need to find the right information quickly.
For Reading Part 3 (Reading for Information), this is especially important. The questions ask which paragraph contains a specific detail — so having a mental map of the passage saves enormous time.
Getting stuck on a difficult question and spending 3-4 minutes on it is one of the most common mistakes. Meanwhile, easier questions later in the section go unanswered because time runs out.
Try this instead: Use the 60-second rule. If you've spent more than 60 seconds on a single question and you're not close to the answer, mark your best guess and move on. You can go back to previous questions within each Reading part, but once a part's time runs out, it moves forward automatically and you can't return. Three correct answers on easy questions are worth more than one correct answer on a hard question.
| Time Allocation | Suggested Approach |
|---|---|
| Part 1 (Correspondence) | ~11 minutes for 11 questions |
| Part 2 (Diagram) | ~9 minutes for 8 questions |
| Part 3 (Information) | ~10 minutes for 9 questions |
| Part 4 (Viewpoints) | ~13 minutes for 10 questions |
| Buffer | ~2-5 minutes to review flagged questions |
In Reading Part 4, you're asked to identify who holds which opinion. Many test takers confuse the viewpoints — they remember the opinion but attribute it to the wrong person.
Here's a trick that works: As you read, mentally label each person's position. If the passage has three contributors — say, Alex, Maria, and Jordan — note their main stance: "Alex = for, Maria = against, Jordan = neutral." When questions ask "Who would most likely agree with...?", you can answer quickly without re-reading the entire passage.
Writing is where most test takers leave the most points on the table — not because their English is bad, but because they don't manage the task well.
The most common writing mistake isn't a grammar error — it's starting to write immediately without a plan. This leads to disorganized responses, missed bullet points, and awkward word-count padding at the end.
The fix: Spend 3-4 minutes planning before you type a single word. For Task 1, identify the required tone (formal, semi-formal, informal) and map one paragraph to each bullet point. For Task 2, choose your position and list 2-3 reasons with a brief example for each.
A clear plan means you'll write faster, stay organized, and hit the word count naturally — without scrambling at the end.
Writing Task 1 asks you to write an email. The prompt always specifies who you're writing to — a friend, a colleague, a manager, or a business. Many test takers use the same tone regardless of the audience.
The solution is simple — match your tone to the recipient:
| Recipient | Tone | Example Opening |
|---|---|---|
| Friend | Informal | "Hey! I wanted to let you know about something..." |
| Colleague | Semi-formal | "Hi [Name], I'm writing to share some thoughts on..." |
| Manager/Business | Formal | "Dear [Name], I am writing to bring to your attention..." |
Using formal language in an email to a friend sounds robotic. Using casual slang in an email to your boss sounds unprofessional. The evaluators specifically check for appropriate tone — it's a scoring criterion, not a suggestion.
The target is 150-200 words for both writing tasks. Going significantly under suggests you didn't develop your ideas enough. Going significantly over means you're wasting time and possibly losing coherence.
Here's the good news: The CELPIP interface shows your word count in real time. Aim for 170-190 words — this gives you a comfortable buffer in both directions. If you're at 120 words after covering all points, expand one reason with a specific example. If you're at 220 words, look for sentences you can cut without losing meaning.
Important: Quality always beats quantity. A well-organized 160-word response will score higher than a rambling 250-word one.
Many test takers use all their time writing and submit without reviewing. Simple errors like missing articles ("I went to store"), subject-verb disagreement ("He go to work"), or typos can cost you points that a 2-minute review would have caught.
The easy win: Save 2-3 minutes at the end of each writing task for review. The CELPIP Writing section includes a built-in spell checker that flags misspelled words — use it. Read your response once for grammar and once for flow — that's all it takes to catch the easy mistakes.
Common grammar errors to watch for:
Speaking is the section that makes people the most nervous — and nervous habits are exactly what cost points here.
Everyone uses filler words in casual conversation — that's normal. But in the CELPIP Speaking section, excessive fillers make you sound hesitant, and that directly hurts your fluency score.
The fix: The key is using your preparation time effectively — that's 30 seconds for most tasks, or 60 seconds for Tasks 5 and 6. When you have a plan, you're less likely to hesitate. Write 2-3 bullet points on your notepaper during prep time so you always know what to say next.
If you need a moment to think during your response, use natural pauses instead of fillers. A brief silence of 1-2 seconds sounds much more natural than "um, uh, so basically, like..." Also, practice transition phrases that buy you thinking time while sounding polished:
Nervous test takers often rush through their responses, cramming as many words as possible into the time limit. Others speak so slowly that they barely finish one point before time runs out.
What works: Aim for a natural, conversational pace. Think about how you'd explain something to a friend — not how a news anchor reads the teleprompter, and not how someone who's unsure of their words hesitates through every phrase.
A practical benchmark: you should be able to make 2-3 clear points in a 60-second response and 3-4 points in a 90-second response. If you're making 5+ points in 60 seconds, you're rushing. If you only get through one point, you're too slow.
Some test takers make one or two points and then go silent with 20-30 seconds remaining. That's valuable time where you could be demonstrating vocabulary and fluency.
Don't just stop talking. If you finish your main points early, expand with details or examples:
Tip: Aim to speak until the timer is within 5 seconds of ending. You don't need to fill every millisecond, but leaving 20+ seconds of silence hurts your score.
In the Speaking section, each task comes with specific instructions. Task 5 asks you to compare and persuade. Task 6 asks you to deal with a difficult situation. Some test takers give generic responses that don't actually address what the task requires.
To avoid this: During your prep time (30 seconds for most tasks, 60 seconds for Tasks 5 and 6), re-read the prompt carefully. Identify exactly what you're being asked to do:
| Task | What They Want |
|---|---|
| Task 1 | Give specific, practical advice |
| Task 2 | Share a personal experience with details |
| Task 3 | Describe what you see — who, what, where |
| Task 4 | Make predictions and explain why |
| Task 5 | Compare two options and persuade |
| Task 6 | Address a problem with diplomacy |
| Task 7 | State an opinion with reasons |
| Task 8 | Describe something unusual and explain it |
Each task wants something different from you. Tailoring your response to the specific task type shows the evaluator that you actually understood the question — and that alone is worth points.
Here's a quick reference to review before your test:
Listening:
Reading:
Writing:
Speaking:
It varies by individual, but Writing and Speaking tend to have the most avoidable mistakes. These are the only sections where your output is open-ended — meaning there are more ways for errors to creep in. Listening and Reading are multiple-choice, so even guessing gives you a chance.
There's no exact number. CELPIP Writing, for example, is scored across four dimensions: coherence, vocabulary, readability (grammar, punctuation, sentence structure), and task fulfillment (tone, word count, relevance). Most CLB 9 scorers perform strongly across all criteria with only minor errors. That said, fixing even 3-4 of these common mistakes can realistically bump your score by 1-2 levels.
Focus on your weakest section. For immigration purposes, your lowest score matters most — a CELPIP 9, 9, 9, 7 gives you CLB 7 points for that fourth skill. Bringing a 7 up to an 8 or 9 has a much bigger impact on your CRS points than improving a 9 to a 10.
Always guess. CELPIP has no penalty for wrong answers. A blank answer is guaranteed zero points. A guess has at least a 20-25% chance of being correct. Never leave any question unanswered.
Realistically, test takers who are aware of these mistakes and actively practice avoiding them report improvements of 1-2 CLB levels on their retake. The biggest gains usually come from time management (mistakes #5, #6, #8) and Speaking fluency (mistakes #12, #13, #14).
Absolutely. Take practice tests under timed conditions and specifically watch for these patterns. Record yourself during speaking practice and listen for filler words. Time your writing tasks and practice the plan-write-review cycle. The more you practice under realistic conditions, the more natural these fixes become on test day.
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