Dear Manager, I am writing about my membership. I join your center because I want to use swimming pool every day. Swimming help me with my health. But now pool is closed for repair and nobody say when it will open. I still pay every month but I cannot swim. Staff did not give me any information about this. Please give me refund for months when pool is not open, or add more time to membership. I hope you help me. Thank you, David
Writing Task 1: Writing an Email
Writing Task 1: Writing an Email is part of the Writing section of the CELPIP General test. You get 150–200 words and 27 minutes to write. It is scored on Content / Coherence, Vocabulary, Readability, Task Fulfillment.
- Length
- 150–200 words
- Time
- 27 minutes
- Prompts here
- 30 published
The three-move email
- 1
Say your purpose in the first line
Not the topic — the purpose. Our CLB 5 answer opens "I am writing about my membership"; the CLB 11 opens "I am writing to formally raise a concern regarding the ongoing closure of your facility's swimming pool."
- 2
Give each bullet its own paragraph, with one concrete fact
Three bullets, three paragraphs. A date, an amount or a duration in each one is what separates a described problem from an asserted one.
- 3
Ask for one specific thing
"Please help me" is not a request. "A two-month extension at no charge, or a partial refund for the affected period" is — and it is Task Fulfillment that rewards it.
Specific beats strong.
Between CLB 5 and CLB 11 the anger does not increase. The detail does.
Build the email vocabulary that lifts your CELPIP Writing Task 1 score — openings, polite requests, linking phrases and closings for both formal and informal emails.
Task 1 asks you to write an email for a specific purpose and audience. Match your greeting, tone and sign-off to the situation, and use clear linking phrases to organise each paragraph around one purpose.
What raters reward here
- Use a clear opening line that states your purpose.
- Cover all THREE bullet points — one short paragraph each.
- Match the tone (formal for a manager, friendly for a colleague).
- Aim for 150–200 words and end with a polite closing.
A structure that works
Opening: Dear [Name / Sir or Madam],
Reason for writing: I am writing to ...
Body 1 (point 1): ...
Body 2 (point 2): ...
Request / point 3: I would therefore like to ...
Closing: Thank you for your attention. / I look forward to your reply.
Sign-off: Sincerely, [Your Name]
Three mistakes that cost points heremost common first
- 1Covering two bullets well and the third in half a line — the rubric scores all three.
- 2Matching the tone to your feelings instead of to the reader. A manager you have never met is not a friend.
- 3Ending without a request, so the reader has nothing to act on.
How Writing is scored
- Content / Coherence
- Whether your ideas are relevant, developed and easy to follow from one sentence to the next.
- Vocabulary
- The range and accuracy of your word choice, including how naturally words go together.
- Readability
- Grammar, spelling, punctuation and paragraphing — how easily a reader gets through it.
- Task Fulfillment
- Whether you did everything the prompt asked, in the register the situation calls for.
Model answersthe same prompt, four levels
These are the answers our scorer was calibrated against. Reading a CLB 5 beside a CLB 11 for the same prompt is the fastest way to see what a level actually means. CLB 9 is marked as the target because it is the level that earns maximum language points for Express Entry.
Dear Manager, I am writing because I have problem with the swimming pool at your fitness center. I joined your center two months ago. The main reason was the swimming pool. I chose 12-month membership because I wanted to swim every week. Swimming is main part of my exercise. The pool is closed for repairs now and there is no date when it will open again. This is big problem for me because I cannot use the pool. I also cannot do my exercise like I wanted to. I tried other equipment at the center but it is not same and I am not happy with this situation. I would like to ask for extension of my membership or some money back. I am not using the pool I signed up for so I think this is fair. Thank you for your time. I look forward to your reply. Sincerely, Jamie Lee
Dear Manager, I am writing to express my concern about the closure of the swimming pool at your fitness center, which has affected my membership experience. When I signed up for 12-month membership two months ago, the swimming pool was the main reason for my choice. I specifically chose your center because I swim on regular basis for fitness and stress relief. Since the pool closed for repairs, I have been unable to use the service I paid for. There is also no information about when it will reopen, so I cannot plan my exercise routine. I am also unable to find another pool nearby, which means I have lost my main form of exercise. I would therefore like to request a partial refund for the months the pool is unavailable, or an extension of my membership for the same period. I believe this is a fair resolution. Thank you for your attention. I look forward to your reply. Sincerely, Alex Morgan
Dear Manager, I am writing to formally raise a concern regarding the ongoing closure of your facility's swimming pool, which has now been unavailable for several weeks without any confirmed reopening date. When I enrolled in a 12-month membership two months ago, the pool was not merely an added benefit — it was the sole reason I chose your centre over two nearby competitors. I swim four mornings a week as part of a structured training regimen, and its continued closure has effectively rendered my CA$60 monthly fee redundant. Despite approaching the reception desk on two separate occasions, I have received no acknowledgment of the inconvenience, let alone any offer of compensation. Given that the closure shows no sign of resolution, I would respectfully request either a pro-rated refund for the affected period or a commensurate extension of my membership once the pool reopens. I trust either option would represent a fair outcome for both parties. Thank you for your attention to this matter. I look forward to your prompt reply. Sincerely, David Chen
Now do it yourself and find out where you land
A model answer shows you the target. It cannot tell you whether your own writing hits it — that is a CLB level for each criterion, with the sentences that earned it.
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Create your free account →Questions people ask
- Should my CELPIP email be formal or informal?
- Read the prompt carefully: writing to a manager or company is formal, while writing to a friend is informal. Each phrase below is tagged by register so you can choose correctly.
- How long should the CELPIP Writing Task 1 email be?
- Aim for 150 to 200 words organised into clear paragraphs. Use the connectors below to link ideas instead of padding the word count.
The other 29 Writing an Email prompts2 free
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- ·Unauthorized Charge on Bank Account
- ·Dog Waste in the Neighbourhood
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- ·Swimming Pool Facilities
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- ·Damaged Item Refundfree
- ·Cancelled Party Room Booking
- ·Thanking a Colleague
- ·Dog Grooming Complaint
- ·Requesting an Apartment Repair
- ·Inviting a Friend to an Event
- ·Complaint About Internet Service
- ·Requesting a Refund for a Cancelled Event
- ·Recommending a Restaurant to a Friend
- ·Reporting a Lost Item
- ·Asking for a Reference Letter
- ·Complaint About a Hotel Stay