CELPIP Writing Task 1: Writing an Email

CELPIP Writing Task 1 Sample Answer: Reviewing an Online Spreadsheet Course

This prompt asks you to give feedback on an online spreadsheet course: what you liked, what was difficult and how to improve it. The tricky part is making each suggestion answer a specific difficulty, so the feedback feels useful rather than a general list of likes and dislikes.

Time

27 minutes

Length

150–200 words

Tone

Formal or semi-formal, depending on the reader

The question

You have just finished an eight-week online spreadsheet course offered by a college in Winnipeg. You took the course for $350 to prepare for a new job as an office administrator. The college has asked students to share their opinions about the course by email.

Write an email to the course coordinator in about 150-200 words. Your email should do the following things:

Tell the coordinator what you liked about the course.

Describe any difficulties you had.

Suggest how the course could be improved.

How to plan your answer

What they want

A polite, constructive email to the course coordinator about the online spreadsheet course you just finished.
Cover: what you liked, difficulties, and suggestions to improve it.

Plan (27 min)

Greeting: "Dear Course Coordinator," and say you completed the course to prepare for your new job.
Liked: short video lessons, practice files with real office tasks, quick feedback on assignments.
Difficulties: videos showed an older version of the software; quizzes allowed only one attempt; questions on the discussion board went unanswered for days.
Suggestions: update the videos, add a weekly live Q&A, allow quiz retakes for practice.
Closing: thank them, mention the course helped at work, full name.

Useful vocabulary

module, assignment, feedback, practice files
outdated, discussion board, live session, retake

Phrases

What I found most useful was...
The main difficulty I had was...
One way to improve the course would be...

Avoid

Vague praise like "it was good"; give examples.
Suggestions that don't connect to your difficulties.

Excellent answer: around CLB 11–12

Dear Course Coordinator, Having just completed your eight-week online spreadsheet course, I wanted to share some feedback. I enrolled to prepare for a new role as an office administrator, and I already feel far more confident. What I valued most were the practical materials. The video lessons were concise, and the practice files mirrored real workplace tasks, such as creating a monthly budget and a staff rotation. The instructor's detailed comments, which usually arrived within a day, were especially helpful. That said, a few aspects were frustrating. Many videos were recorded in an older version of the software, so I often had to search for menus that had moved. Each quiz could be attempted only once, which discouraged practice, and questions on the discussion board sometimes remained unanswered for up to four days. I would recommend refreshing the videos to match the current version and introducing a weekly live Q&A session, which would solve the communication delays. Allowing unlimited practice attempts on quizzes would also encourage students to learn from their mistakes. Thank you for a well-designed and genuinely useful course. Kind regards, Samira Benali

185 words

Why it scores high

Content/Coherence: Suggestions are tied to their causes, such as a live Q&A "which would solve the communication delays," showing careful thinking.
Vocabulary: Varied, precise choices like "mirrored real workplace tasks," "discouraged practice" and "refreshing the videos" sound polished and natural.
Readability: Topic sentences like "What I valued most" and "That said, a few aspects were frustrating" guide the coordinator smoothly through the feedback.

Good answer: around CLB 7–8

Dear Course Coordinator, My name is Samira Benali, and I recently completed your eight-week online spreadsheet course. I took it to prepare for a new office administrator position, and I would like to share my feedback. Overall, I found the course very useful. The video lessons were short and clear, and the practice files were based on real office tasks, such as building a monthly budget and a staff schedule. I also appreciated that the instructor marked assignments within a day. However, I had a few difficulties. Many of the videos showed an older version of the software, so the menus on my screen often looked different. In addition, each quiz allowed only one attempt, and my questions on the discussion board sometimes went unanswered for several days. To improve the course, I suggest updating the videos to the current version and adding a weekly live question-and-answer session. Allowing students to retake quizzes for practice would also help. Thank you for a helpful course. Best regards, Samira Benali

168 words

What works, and what's missing

Task Fulfillment: Each point has its own paragraph, and the suggestions match all three difficulties, including retaking "quizzes for practice."
Vocabulary: Accurate, natural phrases like "marked assignments within a day" and "went unanswered for several days" describe the course precisely.
Content/Coherence: The suggestions are listed but not justified; briefly explaining how a live session would help students would make them more persuasive.

Basic answer: around CLB 4–5

Dear Course Coordinator, My name is Samira Benali. Last week I finish your online spreadsheet course. I take this course because I start a new job in office next month. I like many things in the course. The videos was short and easy to understand. I also like the practice files, because they are like real work, for example making a budget and a schedule. The teacher answer my assignments very fast, usually in one day. But I had some difficulties. The videos show old version of the program, so sometimes my screen look different and I was confused. Also the quiz give only one try. When I ask question on the discussion board, nobody answer for four days. I think you can make new videos with the new version. Also maybe a live class one time every week for questions will help students a lot. Thank you, Samira Benali

150 words

What holds it back

Content/Coherence: All three points appear in order with examples, but the suggestions don't mention quiz retakes, so one difficulty is left without a solution.
Vocabulary: Errors such as "I finish your online spreadsheet course," "The videos was short" and "nobody answer for four days" are frequent.
Readability: Simple openings like "I like," "I also like" and "Also" are clear but repetitive, giving the email a list-like rhythm.

The CLBs are estimates of the level each sample was written at, not official CELPIP scores. How we estimate CLB