Have you been stuck at 7 after multiple attempts at the CELPIP exam?

You're not alone. Many test takers find themselves in the same boat, struggling to boost their scores in listening, reading, speaking, or writing—even after several tries.

It's frustrating to see inconsistent results, and it’s tempting to blame yourself or compare your journey to others who seem to be breezing through.

But let’s talk about this a little: if your scores aren’t matching your goals, it might not be about studying harder; it could be that your current English level isn’t strong enough yet to hit those higher scores.

Takeaways:

• Understand that consistently low scores on the CELPIP may indicate your English level is not where it needs to be to get the score you want.
• If you find yourself stuck scoring the same low results, assess your general English skills before retaking the exam.
• Focus on practicing your weakest areas instead of avoiding them; this can significantly change your scores.
• Realize that moving from a 7 to a 9 on the CELPIP requires more than just studying harder; it needs dedicated practice sometimes over a year or more.

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The Top 5 Mistakes Test Takers Make on the Speaking Section of the CELPIP (And what you can do to avoid them!)

(https://celpipsuccess.com/mistakes/)

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Top 5

This week I've read at least four separate cases of people making multiple attempts at this helpip.

But each time having one or more of their listening or reading or speaking or writing section scores be what pulls them down.

For some, one skill is consistently weak all the way through.

Like, one person tried the exam four times and each time their writing stayed at eight when what they really needed was a nine.

And even more frustrating, most of the cases I found had results that were never the same.

Each attempt seemed to give them different scores.

There was just no consistency.

Now, understandably, these test takers are feeling fed up with the exam and with themselves.

And in some cases, they're feeling like complete losers because their friends have already gotten the scores they needed and have moved on.

Well, here they are, stuck.

So what's going on here?

If any of these cases resonate with you, if you find yourself taking the exam multiple times and just not able to get the score that you need, then please listen to today's episode.

We're going to do a little bit of detective work together to figure out what's been going wrong.

Hello and welcome to the Celtip Success Podcast, the most introvert friendly podcast on the planet, dedicated to helping you prepare for and conquer the CELPIP exam.

If you're tired of feeling stuck and getting ready for your exam, then, my friend, this is the podcast for you.

Who am I?

My name is Aaron.

I've been an English teacher for over 17 years.

I'm a certified Celpip trainer, and I can't wait to help you get ready for your CELPIP exam.

So, first of all, and I've talked about this before in other episodes, but the most common reason why you get consistently low scores, like the poor person who I was talking about before who kept scoring a seven instead of a nine after six attempts, it's very likely that because their current level of English is at an intermediate level, that's roughly what a 7 is on the CELPIP.

An intermediate level of English.

A 9 on the CELPIP means you have a strong upper intermediate level of English.

Now, on paper, that 7 to a 9 gap seems pretty small, doesn't it?

Like maybe you're telling yourself, I just need to study harder to earn those two extra points.

But it's really important that we do a reality check here.

Those two points, though small on paper, actually represent up to, and maybe even more a year of intensive daily practice and regular usage of English in order to achieve over a year.

So we're not talking about a simple jump from a 7 to a 9 that simply studying more can solve?

No, there's far more involved in moving from a seven to a nine.

And hopefully you're seeing here that studying harder isn't going to be what bumps you up those two points.

It's not because you're stupid and it's not because you're a loser.

And everybody else, all of your friends who have already taken the exam and they've gotten the score they've needed, but you're stuck.

It's not because you're a loser.

It's because your level of English simply isn't at a strong upper intermediate level yet.

You don't need more intensive CELPIP study, but what you do need is more intensive practice of your general English skills over a few months or even a year in order for you to get that nine that you're trying so hard to get.

This isn't meant to discourage you, my friend.

If this is you, if you're the one stuck at that seven over and over and over again, I'm not trying to to discourage you.

I'm actually trying to save you a lot of frustration and a lot of money because each of those exams are expensive.

But what I am trying to do is help you have a realistic and fair idea of what you should expect on your exam.

So again, if you have been consistently scoring a lower score, like a 7 or an 8, but what you really need is a 9 or more on the exam for your PR process or for your citizenship process here in Canada, then what you need to look at is if your current level of English is actually at the score that you're trying to achieve.

And once again, just in case you you forgot that link, in order to achieve a 9 or above, your current level of English needs to be a strong upper intermediate level or nearly advanced in order to get that nine.

If you're at an intermediate level of English, that's why you keep scoring a seven.

Does that make sense now?

Maybe you're sure you have that strong upper intermediate level of English, like you've actually taken language level exams to prove it.

And you totally should do that.

By the way, before you start trying to take the exam over and over again, you should learn what your current level of English is before you try the celpip.

Because knowing what your general level of English is like, if you're at an intermediate or an advanced or a beginner or a pre intermediate, you should know what that is going into the exam.

Knowing what your current level of English is will give you a general idea of what you can expect to score on the celpip.

Because that's what the CELPIP measures.

It measures your general level of English and the number that it gives you points to what that level is.

So do yourself a favor and understand what your current level of English is before you actually try to take the celpip.

Okay, let's get back to the point.

If you're sure of your strong upper intermediate level of English, for example, but you are still getting stuck with lower scores on the celpip, you may just need to brush up on a few strategies to help you over your stubbornly lower scores.

I've seen this happen with clients before.

Their language level was right for the score they needed, but they just didn't know what strategies to use for the exam.

And after working together to build and practice those skills together, they were able to take the exam successfully.

Sometimes it's just a matter of learning and using the right strategy.

The second idea I have for you is to focus on practicing your weak skill area.

Don't ignore it.

And you might be thinking to yourself, well, that's obvious.

Of course I should focus on what my weaknesses are.

But in practice, in real life, we love to do what comes easier for us, and we love to avoid what we don't feel confident in.

And this happens all the time when it comes to the celbif, and it's a huge mistake to make.

Lean into practicing the skill where your lowest score is.

And again, I know this seems like an obvious thing to say, but like I mentioned a moment ago, we, generally speaking, avoid our weaknesses.

I've worked with clients who, at the start of our relationship told me that their weak areas were speaking skills, for example.

And when I asked them what they had been actually doing to practice, and they told me that they were spending the bulk of their time on reading and listening skills.

So there's like this total disconnect between what they're practicing and where their weaknesses are.

And I think that that happens a lot more frequently than what we care to admit.

Maybe you're doing that too.

Check in with yourself.

Where do you spend most of your time with English each day?

Is it focused on practicing those skill areas where you're strong, where you're confident, where you know you do a great job?

Or are you kind of zeroing in and paying attention on where, you know you struggle and you're working on actively trying to improve those skill sets?

In the case of the person that I was working with, I helped them to focus on their weaknesses by giving them practice assignments and exercises as well as feedback on their speaking skills, which was what they wanted to work on pretty much exclusively.

That was all that we focused on.

Everything else we sort of put on the back burner and we zeroed in on where they felt weak.

And the result?

Well, after a few months of hard work, they put in really hard work almost every single day.

They were sending me in speaking task assignments and I was sending them feedback.

But after a couple of months of doing that together, they were able to take their score of 8 and bump it up to an 11 after a few months of focused work.

And it's really important to keep in mind that their language level was already at that 11 mark.

They had a strong, almost advanced level of English, but what they were missing were the strategies to help them through each section of the speaking section of the exam.

So make sure you're paying attention to your weak areas in your practice time.

And if the speaking section of the sub is what is holding you back, if that's your kryptonite, then I have some great news for you.

I've built a totally free 5 part audio course that focuses 100% on the top 5 mistakes test takers make on the speaking section of the examination and what you can do to avoid them to finally improve your speaking score.

To grab your 5 part audio course and yes, it is free, just go to celpipsuccess.com mistakes that's celpipsuccess.com mistakes and I'm going to put a link to that in my show notes today.

Download your copy today and I look forward to helping you focus on the strategies that you need to finally increase your score on the speaking section of the CELPIP exam.

Thank you so much for listening today.

I hope you'll come back again next time.

Bye bye.