Free CELPIP practice tests & mock exams — that build your vocabulary too

The first idea you hear is almost always rejected later. The answer is the last thing they agree on, not the first thing suggested.

The questions ask about attitude, not facts. A polite "sure, I guess" is a no, and the options will offer you the literal yes.

Numbers get restated and corrected mid-sentence. Write down the last one you hear, not the first.

You hear it once with a blank screen. Fix the sequence of events in your notes before the options appear, or you will be reconstructing it from memory.

Speakers interrupt and switch positions. The answer tracks the person, so note names first and opinions second.

Every option paraphrases the speaker closely. A single absolute — "always", "never", "all" — is what turns a true-sounding option false.

The second half is filled from the reply’s logic, not the letter’s wording. Candidates who keep re-scanning the letter lose the time they need for Part 4.

Two options usually fit the picture. Only one fits what the message actually asks for — read the request again before choosing.

"Not given" is a real answer and it is deliberately uncomfortable. If the passage does not say it, do not reason your way there.

Half the questions are about the comment, not the article — and this is exactly where the clock runs out. Bank time in Parts 1–3.

Missing one bullet caps Content and Task Fulfillment no matter how good the English is. Tick them off before you write the closing line.

Weighing both options reads as indecision and costs you Content. Commit to one in the first sentence and spend the rest defending it.

It is one of the two 90-second windows. Most candidates run dry around 40 seconds — plan three separate suggestions, not one.

Past tense slips into present the moment you get absorbed in the story. Fix the tense in your prep, not mid-sentence.

Listing objects instead of placing them. Prepositions and spatial phrases are literally what is being scored here.

Re-describing the scene. The examiner already heard that in Task 3 — the whole minute has to be future forms.

You get a full minute to prepare, which tempts you to keep deliberating. Decide in the first 15 seconds or there is nothing left to say.

You must state who you are speaking to and hold that role for the full minute. Switching audience halfway collapses the score.

Ninety seconds needs two reasons plus a concrete example. One reason runs out at about 45 seconds and the silence is scored.

Guessing what the object is. You are not meant to know — describe shape, size, material and possible use instead.