CELPIP® Writing Task 2 sample: Print Shop Training Survey

Responding to Survey Questions · 26 minutes · 150–200 words · Published 23 October 2026

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

Practice question

Camille, the owner of Cobalt Letter Press in Burlington, is surveying employees before introducing a new order-scheduling system. Each employee can receive six paid hours of training during working hours. The shop can close for one weekday so everyone learns together, or hold six weekly one-hour sessions in small groups while the pickup counter stays open. The training budget covers either plan, but cannot fund additional sessions or replacement staff.

Which training plan should Camille select, considering how employees learn and how customers use the shop?

Option A: Close for one weekday and provide six hours of group training, temporarily interrupting customer pickups.
Option B: Provide six weekly one-hour sessions while maintaining counter service, extending the learning period over six weeks.

Model answers

Level 7 sample answer

167 words

Option B is better for me because I would learn the new system in small steps. Six hours of training in one day sounds tiring. After the first few hours, I might forget some of the information that Camille explains.

With one paid hour each week, I could practise what I learned before the next session. If I made a mistake, I could write it down and ask about it later. This would help me understand the system instead of just remembering the steps for short time.

Also, the counter would remain open. Customers could still collect their orders, and workers would not need to explain why the shop was closed. At my previous workplace, changes in opening hours sometimes caused confusion for regular customers.

I understand that everyone would finish training sooner with Option A. However, learning slowly is more useful to me, especially when the system is new. I am interested on improving my skills, so I support the weekly sessions during paid working hours.

Why this answer is at level 7

This level 7 answer clearly supports weekly training and explains benefits for employees and customers in an easy sequence. Its examples remain fairly general, and occasional grammar and word-choice errors make it less precise and controlled than the higher-level responses.

If I made a mistake, I could write it down and ask about it later. — Content/Coherence: This gives a logical connection between practice and later questions. A higher-level response would identify a particular scheduling difficulty and show how addressing it would improve work at the shop.
I am interested on improving my skills — Vocabulary: The meaning is clear, but the usual expression is “interested in.” A higher-level response would use accurate phrasing and connect the closing statement more specifically to learning the scheduling system.
This would help me understand the system instead of just remembering the steps for short time. — Readability: The contrast between understanding and temporary recall is easy to follow, but “for short time” needs an article. Higher-level writing would express this useful distinction with more consistent grammatical control.
Customers could still collect their orders, and workers would not need to explain why the shop was closed. — Task Fulfillment: This directly addresses customer access alongside an effect on employees. A higher-level answer would develop the customer benefit beyond avoiding explanations, showing how pickup availability affects a customer's working day.

Level 9 sample answer

177 words

I favour Option A: close the shop for one weekday and train everyone together. Although pausing pickups would inconvenience customers, completing the change in a single day would avoid stretching the learning process across six weeks.

A shared session would put employees on the same page. When an order passes from the counter to production, both teams need to understand its status. Learning together would allow us to ask questions about that handover and agree on a consistent approach before returning to our usual duties.

Concentrated training would also protect our attention. During a normal shift, I often switch between checking order details and responding to questions. Even if the weekly sessions were scheduled separately, knowing that the counter was busy could make it harder to focus fully on an unfamiliar system.

The closure should be announced well ahead of time, with reminders when customers arrange pickups. That would give them a chance to plan around it. Six hours is a substantial commitment, but a clearly organised day with short breaks would be worth the temporary disruption.

Why this answer is at level 9

This level 9 answer develops a clear workplace argument through shared procedures, focused attention, and advance notice for customers. Its language is controlled, but the benefits of concentrated learning and the limits of pickup reminders receive less practical exploration than the reasoning in the level 11 response.

When an order passes from the counter to production, both teams need to understand its status. — Content/Coherence: This connects group training to a specific workflow involving both teams. A higher-level response would extend that connection by showing a particular scheduling decision employees could practise together.
A shared session would put employees on the same page. — Vocabulary: The idiom naturally communicates shared understanding and suits the employee perspective. A higher-level response would sustain greater precision by explaining exactly which scheduling procedures employees need to apply consistently.
Although pausing pickups would inconvenience customers, completing the change in a single day would avoid stretching the learning process across six weeks. — Readability: The opening concession and main clause make the competing considerations easy to follow. A higher-level response would retain this grammatical control while replacing the broad phrase “completing the change” with a more exact description of finishing training.
The closure should be announced well ahead of time, with reminders when customers arrange pickups. — Task Fulfillment: This offers a practical way to reduce the disruption caused by the selected plan. A higher-level response would also weigh the remaining inconvenience for customers with fixed pickup needs, even after receiving notice.

Level 11 sample answer

179 words

I support Option B because a scheduling system becomes useful when employees can apply its features consistently during ordinary shifts. Six weekly sessions would let us learn the ropes while keeping the pickup counter open.

For example, after learning how to enter an order, I could record any confusing steps encountered during subsequent shifts. If I struggled to change a collection date, that specific problem could be addressed at the next session. Rather than relying on memory, we would bring practical questions to each lesson.

Maintaining counter service also matters to customers whose own work depends on printed materials. A caterer collecting menus between lunch deliveries might have only twenty minutes available. Keeping the pickup counter open would spare that customer a rearranged workday.

Admittedly, six weeks is a longer transition, and Camille would need to establish which procedures employees should follow while training continues. That should be clarified before the first session. Once a common interim approach is in place, the weekly format would balance practical learning with dependable service, making the same six paid hours more productive.

Why this answer is at level 11

This level 11 answer combines precise workplace examples with a balanced explanation of weekly training and continuous customer service. Its strength is the connection between practical learning, customer schedules, and a common procedure during the transition, expressed through clear and controlled language.

A caterer collecting menus between lunch deliveries might have only twenty minutes available. — Content/Coherence: This hypothetical example gives the customer-service argument a concrete consequence. The customer's limited collection window explains why keeping the counter open matters beyond general convenience.
employees can apply its features consistently during ordinary shifts — Vocabulary: The words “apply,” “consistently,” and “ordinary shifts” define successful learning precisely. They connect training to reliable daily use of the scheduling system and establish the standard supporting the recommendation.
If I struggled to change a collection date, that specific problem could be addressed at the next session. — Readability: The conditional sentence clearly links a realistic scheduling difficulty to the next learning opportunity. Its controlled structure makes the relationship between workplace practice and weekly feedback immediately understandable.
Camille would need to establish which procedures employees should follow while training continues. — Task Fulfillment: This identifies an operational challenge within the preferred plan and proposes a relevant response. Establishing shared procedures supports the extended learning period without requiring additional sessions or replacement staff.

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.

State a clear survey choice and develop reasons with concrete examples. Explain consequences, connect paragraphs and address the competing option where useful without losing your position.

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.
Readability: Look for increasingly controlled grammar, sentence variety, punctuation and paragraphing. Complexity helps when it keeps the message easy to read.
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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