How to prepare for CELPIP Reading

What is Celpip Reading ?

The CELPIP (Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program) is an English test that enables test takers to showcase their proficiency in English communication. The CELPIP is available in two versions: the CELPIP-General Test, which assesses four skills categories (listening, speaking, reading, and writing), and the CELPIP-General LS Test, which evaluates solely listening and speaking ability.

Therefore, this section is mainly for folks preparing for CELPIP- General Test.

Reading test format

First and foremost, you must understand the format to maximize your chances of receiving a high score. For the CELPIP-General LS Test, you will only get the Listening and Speaking components which take about 1 hour and 10 minutes to complete. On the other hand, the CELPIP-General Test takes roughly 3 hours to complete.

The reading test will take around 55-60 minutes to complete, including the time spent reading the instructions.

Overview of the Reading Test

• This is the second section of the CELPIP Test (after Listening).
• It takes roughly 55-60 minutes to finish the Reading Test.
• The test center will provide you with pen and paper for taking notes. On the computer screen, you will not be able to take notes, highlight text, or do anything else.
• For each question, choose the best answer from four options.
• You can alter your answers as many times as you like in each Reading section until your time runs out.
• The test will automatically go to the next section on reaching the time limit. You will not be able to return to a previous section.
• Each Reading section’s text and questions are shown on the same screen. To move up and down, use the scrollbars.
• From Parts 1 to 4, the reading passages and questions will increase in difficulty.
• Each audio clip is only played once.

CELPIP Reading Parts Breakdown

Part	No of Questions (approximate)	Timing (approximate)
Practice Task (unscored)	1	1 minute
Part 1: Reading Correspondence Main Text: an email from a community member to another about an everyday social or work situation Second Text: a short response to the main text, with blanks to fill in	11 (6+5)	11 minutes
Part 2: Reading to Apply a Diagram Main text: a diagram with point form text and visuals Second text: a short email from one community member to another about the diagram content, with blanks to fill in	8 (5+3)	9 minutes
Part 3: Reading for Information A four-paragraph informational text about a person, place, event, or process	9	10 minutes
Part 4: Reading for Viewpoints Main text: an article that includes two or more opinions about a community issue Second text: a short comment from a reader of the main text, with blanks to fill in	10 (5+5)	13 minutes
Unscored Items* *They are used for test development purposes. You will not know which part of the test has the unscored items.

* The above information has been taken from CELPIP Reading Pro Study Pack

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How is it scored?

You might require a specific CELPIP test score. Therefore, you may benefit from knowing how the scores are computed. The CELPIP test scoring technique is as follows:

CELPIP Reading Score

On the Reading Test, there are 38 scored questions.

CELPIP LEVEL	READING SCORE /38
10-12	33-38
9	31-33
8	28-31
7	24-28
6	19-25
5	15-20
4	10-16
3	8-11
M	0-7

• Each correct answer is worth one point.
• One unscored component is possible. In that case, differentiation between scored and unscored items will not be possible.
• For incorrect responses, no points are deducted. Therefore, always respond to all questions!
• The number of points and the difficulty level of the questions are used to determine your CELPIP Level, which is calculated by a computer. Score equating ensures fairness.

Common questions related to scoring chart

Why is the score given in a range? 

Each question is assigned a difficulty level. You will receive extra points for the more difficult questions. Even if the overall correct answers are the same, you may be assigned a higher level if you answered more difficult questions correctly than another test-taker.

On the Reading Test, I received a 31. Is my skill level 8 or a 9?

It all depends on how well you answered the questions. Difficult questions weigh greater. That’s why you may end up with a higher level than others with the same amount of correct answers.

Will I get more than 38 questions in the reading section of CELPIP?

Every day, new articles are written. They are pre-tested to confirm that they are of comparable quality to current products before being deployed as scored items. Every test at Paragon contains a few new pieces. These items appear to be identical to the scored items, but they do not contribute to your final score. Because test takers must do their best on every item, Paragon does not notify them which questions will be unscored. This guarantees that the information gathered on these new items are utilized to assess their quality. In the future, only well-performing questions will be used as scoring elements.

Types of questions

On the Reading Test, you will be asked three types of questions.
When addressing questions, it’s a good idea to consider what type of question you’re dealing with. The topic and/or wording of the question can often be used to determine the question type.

General meaning questions, for example, frequently pertain to the entire text or a paragraph.

Probability expressions like probably and most likely are frequently used in inference problems. Inference questions can also refer to the text’s or the writer’s tone or attitude.

The following are the three categories of questions:

1. General Meaning: a “big picture” question that requires you to connect ideas from a bigger section of the text, such as several sentences, a paragraph, or the entire text or diagram.
Examples:

• The article is mostly about _______ .

• The third paragraph’s main concept is _______ .

2. Specific Information: a “close up” question that asks you to locate one piece of data from one sentence in the text or diagram, such as a date, name, location, or fact.
Examples:

• The man relocated from Edmonton to ______ for a job.

• Jules made several phone calls to the ______ desk.

3. Inference: a question in which you must utilize information from the text to conclude something that is not explicitly mentioned in the text or diagram.
Examples:

• Mr. Tom would most likely agree with _______.

• The writer’s tone indicates that she supports ________.

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Thanks, You made it to the end of the article … Good luck with your CELPIP preparation! It’s certainly not going to be easy, but this information will most definitely help you. It will also encourage you to learn more.
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