CELPIP Writing Task 2 Sample: Playground or Community Garden

The prompt

A playground or a community garden

Your neighbourhood has received a grant to improve the local park. The residents’ association is asking which project the money should go to.

Which project should the association choose?

Option A: A new playground for children

Option B: A community garden with plots that residents can rent

Choose the option that you prefer and explain the reasons for your choice. Write about 150–200 words.

Time on the test: 26 minutes. Recommended length: 150–200 words. This is an original practice prompt in the official format, not a test question.

Sample answer at level 11

CELPIP level 11 · CLB 11

198 words

My choice is the community garden, Option B, because it would do more for more people over a longer time. A playground serves one group for a few years. Children outgrow it, and in a neighbourhood like ours, where most families live in apartments with small balconies, what residents lack is not somewhere to play but somewhere to grow anything at all. Rented plots would give seniors who once had gardens, families on tight budgets and newcomers who miss the vegetables of home a reason to be in the park every week, not only on sunny afternoons. The garden also pays for itself in a way a playground cannot. Plot rentals cover water and tools, and surplus produce can go to the food bank on Elm Street, which already runs a table in the park on Saturdays. Equally important, a garden brings people together across generations: the retired neighbour with forty years of tomato experience ends up advising the student who has never planted a seed. I recognise that parents of young children would prefer the playground, and the city does maintain one four blocks away. Given that, the garden is the better use of a one-time grant.

Category ratings

Category	Level	Why
Content / Coherence	11	An argument with a thesis ("more for more people over a longer time") that every paragraph serves; specific local detail (balconies, the food bank on Elm Street, the playground four blocks away).
Vocabulary	11	Precise, idiomatic and economical: "outgrow", "on tight budgets", "pays for itself", "surplus produce", "across generations", "a one-time grant".
Readability	11	Sophisticated but readable structures: a cleft ("what residents lack is not… but…"), long noun phrases handled cleanly, a participial opener; no errors.
Task Fulfillment	11	Clear choice, reasons, examples, concession, conclusion; 198 words.

What shows level 9 and above

Complex structure what residents lack is not somewhere to play but somewhere to grow anything at all
Specific example surplus produce can go to the food bank on Elm Street, which already runs a table in the park on Saturdays
Specific example the retired neighbour with forty years of tomato experience ends up advising the student who has never planted a seed
Nuance I recognise that parents of young children would prefer the playground
Cohesion Given that, the garden is the better use of a one-time grant
Precise wording pays for itself in a way a playground cannot

Level 11 is not about rare words; it is about an argument with a spine and detail that could only come from this writer. The cleft sentence, the concession with a fact attached ("the city does maintain one four blocks away") and the exact nouns are the marks raters notice.

Sample answer at level 5

CELPIP level 5 · CLB 5

155 words

I think the playground is better choice for our park, option A. First, in our neighbourhood there is many childrens and they don't have place for play. The parents must drive to other park far away. If we have playground here, the children can play every day near the house and the parents can relax. Second, playground is good for the health of children. Today the children are always with the phone and tablet and they don't do sport. With a playground they can run, climb and make exercise with other children. They can make friends also. Third, the garden is only for some people who like to plant vegetables, but the playground is for everybody. Also the garden need a lot of work and maybe nobody will take care of it after some months. In conclusion, I choose the playground because it is more useful for the community and more children will be happy.

Category ratings

Category	Level	Why
Content / Coherence	5	A choice and three reasons in the expected shape, but the reasons are generic and partly repeated ("more useful", "more children will be happy"); no specific example.
Vocabulary	5	Very basic and repetitive ("good", "play", "place"); errors in common words ("childrens", "make exercise", "make friends also").
Readability	5	Mostly simple sentences; errors in almost every one: missing articles ("is better choice", "have playground"), agreement ("there is many", "the garden need"), word form ("childrens").
Task Fulfillment	6	Choice stated, reasons given, the other option addressed; 155 words.

Corrections

~~the playground is better choice~~ → the playground is the better choice
A comparative used with a singular noun needs "the" ("the better choice of the two").
~~there is many childrens~~ → there are many children
"Children" is already plural (no -s), and "many" takes "are".
~~they don't have place for play~~ → they do not have a place to play
A countable noun needs an article; purpose is expressed with the to-infinitive.
~~make exercise~~ → get exercise
We "get" or "do" exercise; "make exercise" is a direct translation from several languages.
~~the garden need a lot of work~~ → the garden needs a lot of work
Third-person singular takes -s.
~~If we have playground here~~ → If we have a playground here
Missing article before a singular countable noun.

Level 5: the argument is easy to follow and the format is right, but the basics (articles, plurals, subject–verb agreement) fail in nearly every sentence and the content never leaves the general. The fastest route to level 6–7 is grammar accuracy, then one real example per reason.

What separates level 5 from level 11

An argument needs a thesis that explains the choice ("more for more people over a longer time"), not just a preference.
Local, specific detail (a street name, a balcony, a food bank table) is what makes a reason convincing; invent it if you must, but make it concrete.
Concede the other side with a fact attached: "parents would prefer the playground, and there is one four blocks away".
Children, people, advice and exercise are the nouns most often mis-pluralised in Task 2; check them before submitting.

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More Task 2 samples

Longer weekday evenings or Sunday opening at the library
Levels 10 and 6
Working from home or a four-day week
Levels 9 and 7
School uniforms at the local elementary school
Levels 9 and 6
Free transit for students or a cheaper pass for everyone
Levels 10 and 7
Renovation noise from the apartment upstairs
Task 1 · levels 10 and 6
A community-centre course that changed halfway
Task 1 · levels 9 and 7

See all CELPIP writing samples, the scoring and CLB levels guide, and the official CELPIP test format and scoring page.