CELPIP® Speaking Task 6 sample: An Appointment During Your Workshop

Dealing with a Difficult Situation · Preparation: 60 seconds · Response: 60 seconds · Published 23 October 2026

Original practice questions in CELPIP® task formats, created independently by CELPIP Study.

Practice question

You have a routine appointment with your family doctor in Belleville in six weeks. Priya, the clinic receptionist, offers you a cancellation tomorrow at 2 p.m. However, you are scheduled to lead a staff workshop from 1 to 3 p.m. Your coworker Shane helped prepare it but has never led it alone. The clinic is 20 minutes from work, so you cannot attend both. Declining the cancellation means keeping your original appointment. Decide who you will speak to: either tell Priya you cannot accept tomorrow's appointment, or tell Shane you need him to lead the workshop without you.

Talk to Priya and decline tomorrow's appointment while keeping your original booking
Talk to Shane and explain why you need him to lead the workshop alone

Model answers

These are transcripts of a model response, provided for comparison with your own recording.

Level 7 sample answer

116 words

Shane, um, I need to ask you something about tomorrow's workshop. My doctor's clinic offered me a appointment at two, and otherwise I have to wait six weeks. I've decided to take it, so I need you to lead the workshop by your own. I know you haven't done this before, and it's a lot to ask with only one day's notice. But you helped prepare everything, so you already know the material. I can go through the notes with you today and explain the difficult parts. Also, I can help answer staff questions after the workshop. I'm sorry to change our plan. If you're worried about any section, let's practise that part together before tomorrow.

Why this answer is at level 7

This answer makes a clear request, recognizes Shane's inexperience, and offers practical help. Compared with the higher-level answers, its support plan is less developed, its wording is occasionally awkward, and its opening takes longer to reach the decision.

Also, I can help answer staff questions after the workshop. — Content/Coherence: This adds useful follow-up support to the offer to review notes. However, Shane still needs a way to handle questions during the workshop. The higher-level response explicitly tells him to collect unanswered questions for later.
so I need you to lead the workshop by your own. — Vocabulary: The request is understandable, but the expression should be 'on your own.' This awkward phrase makes the language less controlled than the natural expressions used in the higher-level answers.
Shane, um, I need to ask you something about tomorrow's workshop. — Listenability: Addressing Shane directly establishes a conversational tone. The written hesitation and general introduction delay the purpose slightly; a higher-level opening would introduce the proposed change more directly.
I know you haven't done this before, and it's a lot to ask with only one day's notice. — Task Fulfillment: This directly acknowledges the main difficulty with choosing Shane: he has never led the workshop alone and has little preparation time. A higher-level answer builds on that acknowledgment with a more specific rehearsal and delivery plan.

Level 9 sample answer

141 words

Priya, thanks for thinking of me when tomorrow's appointment became available. I've decided to keep my original booking in six weeks. I'm responsible for a staff workshop tomorrow afternoon, and accepting the appointment would leave my coworker leading it alone for the first time. He helped prepare it, but I don't think it would be fair to put him on the spot with so little notice. I realize cancellations can be difficult to fill, so I wanted to give you a definite answer right away. Please offer tomorrow's opening to someone else. I'd still appreciate being considered for another cancellation, though. If possible, could you call me about a different day? I can check my work commitments before accepting. I know you can't guarantee anything, and I'm grateful that you contacted me. For now, please leave my existing appointment in place.

Why this answer is at level 9

This answer gives Priya a clear, tactful refusal and explains how accepting would affect Shane. Its natural vocabulary and explicit booking instructions make it more controlled than the level 7 answer, although repeated courtesy and extra clinic-related explanation make it less economical than the level 11 answer.

I realize cancellations can be difficult to fill, so I wanted to give you a definite answer right away. — Content/Coherence: This explains why the speaker is responding promptly and shows consideration for Priya. However, the assumption about filling cancellations adds a side issue. A higher-level version could keep the explanation more tightly focused on the workshop conflict.
put him on the spot with so little notice. — Vocabulary: This natural expression captures the pressure Shane would face without sounding overly formal. The level 11 answer adds more precise distinctions between preparing material and delivering it alone, giving its vocabulary greater explanatory depth.
I'd still appreciate being considered for another cancellation, though. — Listenability: The sentence clearly signals a shift from declining tomorrow's appointment to requesting another opportunity. The later thanks and repeated booking instructions lengthen the closing; a higher-level version could preserve this clear transition with fewer closing statements.
For now, please leave my existing appointment in place. — Task Fulfillment: This gives Priya an explicit instruction that preserves the original appointment, completing the chosen option clearly. A higher-level response would retain this precision while consolidating the earlier statement about keeping the original booking.

Level 11 sample answer

160 words

Shane, could we work through a change to tomorrow's workshop? The clinic has offered me a two o'clock cancellation, which would bring my routine appointment forward by six weeks. I've decided to accept it, so I'm asking you to lead the one-to-three session. I recognize that preparing a workshop together is different from suddenly delivering it alone, especially when you haven't led one before. Although I can't remove that pressure, I can make sure you're properly supported. Let's rehearse the opening and divide the material into essential points and optional discussion. I'll prepare clear speaker notes and a short list of likely questions. If anything comes up that you can't answer, please collect it for me to address afterwards. Since the clinic is twenty minutes away, I'd have to leave before the workshop ends. Let's plan the whole session around you leading it. I'm sorry this puts extra responsibility on you; your preparation is precisely why I feel confident asking.

Why this answer is at level 11

This answer combines a clear decision with detailed, realistic support for Shane. Precise language, a purposeful sequence, and explicit handling of the travel constraint make the request persuasive while recognizing the extra responsibility it creates.

Let's rehearse the opening and divide the material into essential points and optional discussion. — Content/Coherence: The support plan addresses both starting confidently and managing the workshop content. This develops the level 7 offer to review notes into concrete preparation that helps an inexperienced leader prioritize.
I recognize that preparing a workshop together is different from suddenly delivering it alone — Vocabulary: The precise contrast between preparing and delivering explains why Shane's familiarity with the material does not remove the challenge. It expresses the concern more fully than simply saying he knows the material.
Although I can't remove that pressure, I can make sure you're properly supported. — Listenability: The balanced sentence connects acknowledgment of Shane's concern to the practical help that follows. This gives the listener a clear progression from difficulty to support without an abrupt change of tone.
Let's plan the whole session around you leading it. — Task Fulfillment: This removes ambiguity about Shane's responsibility for the entire workshop. Together with the explanation of the clinic's distance, it respects the prompt's constraint that the speaker cannot attend both commitments.

What moves an answer from 7 to 9 to 11

These are model answers written to show each level. The labels are practice estimates, not examiner scores.

Make a clear decision, explain it tactfully to the person addressed and develop the reasons. Acknowledge the other person’s needs and offer a practical way forward.

Content/Coherence: Level 7 models communicate the main ideas; level 9 models develop relevant details with clear connections; level 11 models sustain precise, well-integrated development.
Vocabulary: Compare adequate everyday wording with more varied, accurate choices at level 9 and flexible, precise expression at level 11.
Listenability: Higher-level delivery needs clear pronunciation, rhythm, intonation and controlled pauses. Transcripts suggest phrasing and organisation, but cannot demonstrate these audio features; a recording is needed.
Task Fulfillment: Compare how fully the response addresses the request, develops enough relevant detail and maintains an appropriate tone for the audience within the task limits.

Assess the criteria together. A longer answer or rarer words alone do not establish a higher level.

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