CELPIP Writing Task 1 Samples: Emails That Score 9

You've read the Task 1 advice — be polite, be clear, cover the bullet points — and you still can't picture what a 9 email looks like on the screen. Advice without samples is theory. This post gives you two full band-9 Task 1 emails with every move annotated, the skeleton underneath both, and the register rules that make an email sound like a person instead of a form.

If you want your own Task 1 email scored against the real rubric, start with a free mock test → celpipuni.com/free-mock-test.

TL;DR

CELPIP Writing Task 1 is one everyday email — a complaint or request, ~27 minutes, recommended 150–200 words. The prompt names your reader and lists 3–4 points to cover. The skeleton that scores 9: greeting → situation in 1–2 sentences → specific request + reason → consequence or deadline → polite close. Register: polite-but-direct. The most common band-capper: burying the request in paragraph three. Full samples below, annotated.

What Task 1 actually asks for

Task 1 gives you a scenario from everyday life: your neighbour's music, a delayed delivery, a broken heater. The prompt names your reader — building manager, store manager, customer service — and lists 3–4 points to cover. Your job is one email, recommended 150–200 words, that moves a real problem toward a solution.

The thing most people misunderstand: Task 1 isn't testing how politely you can write. It's testing whether you can convert a life problem into a request a stranger can act on. The bullet points are the facts your reader needs; the request is the engine of the email. The rater's first question, reading your email, is "what does this person want?" If that's clear by sentence three, you're structurally in 9 territory. If it arrives at the end, you've written a story, not an email.

Think about your own inbox: the emails you act on fast tell you the situation, tell you what they need, and stop. That's the register raters want.

How the email works, move by move

Move 1 — the greeting (3–6 words). "Hi Martin," or "Hello Sunset Property Management," — match the reader's formality. A manager you've never met gets "Hi [name]"; a faceless company address gets "Hello" plus a role. Never "Dear Sir or Madam" — that register costs you naturalness points.

Move 2 — the situation (1–2 sentences). What happened, when it started, one specific detail that proves you were there. "The heater in my unit (302) has been dead since Monday, and the unit sits around 14 degrees." Not three sentences of atmosphere. The situation earns your request; it doesn't replace it.

Move 3 — the request + reason (the heart). Exactly what you want, phrased as an action the reader can take. "Could you send a technician by Thursday?" Add the reason if it's not obvious. Vague requests ("I would appreciate your assistance in this matter") are the number one tell of a band-7 email.

Move 4 — the consequence or deadline (one sentence). Not a threat — a next step. "If it's not fixable this week, I'd like to discuss a rent adjustment for the days without heat." This sentence separates a 9 from an 8: email is negotiation.

Move 5 — the polite close (one line). "Thanks — Priya, unit 302." Short is fine. Warm is fine. "Thank you in advance for your prompt attention to this matter" is not — band-6 filler wearing a suit.

One test-day detail worth knowing: you'll type this email after more than two hours of Listening and Reading, and your fingers will be tired before you start. Practice typing it — handwriting practice transfers about 60% of the skill.

The numbers: task 1 at a glance

	Task 1
Time	~27 minutes
Recommended length	150–200 words
Output	One email to a named reader
Register	Polite-but-direct, semi-formal
Prompt gives you	The scenario, the reader, 3–4 bullet points
Core skill	Turning a problem into an actionable request

Budget those 27 minutes: 3–4 minutes planning (reader, request, one specific detail), 18–20 writing, 3–4 editing for the errors you know you make. Formats get revised periodically — confirm current timings on the official CELPIP site.

The mistakes that cap Task 1 at 7

Burying the request. "I am writing to bring to your attention a matter that has been causing me some concern…" — the request shows up in paragraph three. Task fulfillment is graded on how quickly the email does its job.

Over-formality. Four-syllable nouns where a verb would do ("I am experiencing difficulty regarding the heating apparatus"). Error-free, and a vocabulary problem anyway — precision means the right word, not the biggest one.

Covering bullets like a checklist. Each prompt point gets one flat sentence, in prompt order, no connection between them. The email reads as assembled, not written.

Zero specific detail. "The noise is very loud and happens at night." Which night? How loud? A 9 has one detail no one could invent: "my phone's decibel app read 68 at 1 am, which I screenshotted."

What good looks like: two Task 1 samples

Sample 1: the complaint email (annotated)

Prompt: your upstairs neighbour plays loud music late at night. Write to the building manager. Cover: what's happening, when it happens, what you've already tried, what you want done.

Hi Martin,

[greeting: named reader, matched register] Quick one about unit 402, above mine. [situation opens sentence 1] There's been music playing up there past midnight every night this week — Tuesday it was still going at 1:30. [specific detail: nobody could invent "Tuesday, 1:30"] I've knocked twice, but no answer either time, and I suspect headphones on their end, because I can hear it clearly through my ceiling. [what I've tried — shows reasonableness without saying "I am a reasonable person"]

Could you give them a nudge? [the request: short, action-sized] A note in their mailbox or a quick call would probably do it — I'd rather not knock again and start an argument with a stranger I share a hallway with. [the reason, with a human note]

If it keeps up through the weekend, I'll file a formal noise complaint under the lease terms — honestly, I'd rather not, but I need the sleep more than the goodwill. [consequence framed as reluctant next step, not threat]

Thanks, Priya, unit 302 [close: 4 words]

Count the register words: "nudge," "quick one," "honestly, I'd rather not." Ordinary English, precisely placed — a real tenant a manager would help.

Sample 2: the request email (annotated)

Prompt: your internet provider installed your service a week late. Write requesting a solution. Cover: the situation, the impact, what you've done, what you want.

Hello Northline Internet,

[greeting: role, not name — faceless company] I'm writing about my installation (account 88412). The appointment was booked for the 3rd; the technician showed up on the 10th. [situation + specifics, 2 sentences] I work from home, so that week meant hot-spotting off my phone — my data plan capped out Wednesday and I paid $30 in overage charges to keep meeting deadlines. [the impact, concrete and checkable]

I called your support line Thursday and was told a manager would call me back within 48 hours. That was three days ago. [what I've done: two flat facts, no editorializing — the gap does the complaining]

I'd like two things: the $30 credited to my next bill, and a confirmation that my billing cycle starts from the 10th, not the 3rd. [the request: numbered, exact, actionable — note there are two, both small]

If the credit isn't processed by Friday, I'll escalate through your complaints department — I'd rather resolve this here. [consequence: process, not drama]

Thanks, D. Sandhu, account 88412

Note the shift: this request has two parts, numbered, because the situation earned it. Skeletons serve the email, never the reverse. And for any other scenario — a damaged delivery, a lost library card — the same five moves apply: swap the facts, keep the structure. Write three emails against the skeleton this week and it stops feeling like one.

Your Task 1 checklist

Request appears by sentence 3 — check every practice email
One specific detail per email that no one could invent
Register matched to reader: name for a person, role for a company
Consequence framed as next step, not threat
150–200 words, typed, in 27 minutes including editing
Bullet points from the prompt covered — but woven in, not listed

Want to know if your email actually hits these marks? Get a detailed evaluation with band-level feedback on all four criteria → celpipuni.com/evaluation.

The nuance nobody mentions

Here's my honest position: the first two sentences of your email do more band-lifting than the rest combined. Raters read dozens of emails a day, and like every human reader, they form a judgment in the first 10 seconds — then spend the rest of the email confirming it. An email that opens "Quick one about unit 402" reads confident from word one, and the rater grades the rest generously. An email that opens with ceremony gets read skeptical. You can't control halo effects, but you can control your opener.

Tools and resources

The official CELPIP site — free Task 1 sample prompts and the current format. Practice against real prompt phrasing. (Confirm the current task format there — it gets revised.)
Free mock test — baseline your writing before the practice loop starts: celpipuni.com/free-mock-test
Human evaluation — find out whether your emails read as a 7 or a 9 to a trained grader: celpipuni.com/evaluation

Frequently asked questions

How long is Task 1 in CELPIP Writing?

About 27 minutes, recommended 150–200 words. Budget 3–4 minutes for planning, 18–20 for writing, 3–4 for editing. Timings get revised — confirm current numbers on the official CELPIP site.

Can I memorize a Task 1 template?

The skeleton, yes — memorize the five moves (greeting, situation, request + reason, consequence, close). The sentences, no: a memorized sentence reads as memorized, and naturalness is part of the rubric.

What if I don't know the reader's name?

Use their role: "Hello Customer Service," or "To the Building Manager." Never "Dear Sir or Madam" — it's decades out of register and reads as memorized ESL writing.

Is 200 words the maximum for Task 1?

It's guidance, not a rule. There's no penalty at 210 words, and 170 well-developed words beat 260 padded ones. But far over 200 usually means buried requests — see word count strategy.

What are common Task 1 topics?

Everyday life: noise complaints, service delays, product problems, rescheduling, asking landlords or managers to fix things. Five skeletons cover nearly all of them — see the five Task 1 scenarios.

Should I use bullet points in my email?

Rarely. Real emails to real managers occasionally use them for multi-part requests, but a Task 1 email develops its points in prose — bullets in a 150-word email read as avoiding the writing work.

What to do next

Today: pick one complaint from your actual life and write it as a Task 1 email, timed, 27 minutes.
Check it against the skeleton: request by sentence 3? One invented-proof detail?
Rewrite only the opener — make it a sentence a real person would send.
This week: get one evaluation to see whether your register reads 7 or 9.

The bottom line

A band-9 Task 1 email isn't more formal, longer, or more impressive than yours — it's more like a real email. Name the reader, state the situation in two sentences, make the request small and specific, frame the consequence as a next step. Practice the skeleton until the moves are automatic, then spend your energy on the details only you could write.

Ready to see your email through a rater's eyes? Get a detailed evaluation with band-level feedback → Get your Task 1 evaluated.