CELPIP course options: free webinars, paid study, classes and tutors

Paragon, the company behind CELPIP, offers free 2-hour webinars on every skill, free practice tests and paid self-study packages from CAD 35.00 (CELPIP LS Prep - Essential, 3 months), with the General version at CAD 49.00. Schools run its classroom program, and companies such as E2Language, Preply and italki sell courses and tutoring. Start free, then pay for feedback where you are weakest.

Paragon, the company that runs CELPIP, offers a good deal of free preparation. You can use all of it before you pay for anything, though some of it, such as the free practice test, needs you to create a CELPIP Account first.

The webinars are named by skill. The study pack lists them as CELPIP-General Overview, Reading Pro, Writing Pro (Target 5 and Target 9+), Speaking Pro (Target 5 and Target 9+), and Listening Pro. Paragon says it repeats them monthly. The Target 5 sessions aim at Level 5 or higher and the Target 9+ sessions at Level 9 or higher.

Paragon's pages do not agree on how many hours of free webinars there are. One page says “over 10 hours”. Its guidebook says “over 15 hours” in one place and “over 18 hours” in another. Whatever the total, the sessions are free to join.

Its pages also count the free practice tests differently. One page says “a free practice test” comes with your CELPIP Account, while its page for prep providers says “One set of 2 practice tests is available for FREE in every CELPIP Account”.

Our own skill pages follow the same free material: CELPIP listening tips and CELPIP listening practice test.

Paragon's store sells self-study packages. The prices below are what the store page showed, in Canadian dollars. Paragon says: “Please note that there are no refunds or exchanges on Study Materials purchased.”

Paragon also describes online study options that include “our online course CELPIP Accelerate, CELPIP Practice and Analysis, and our online practice tests”. The practice tests are sold in sets of two and in bundles, and we list them with prices on our CELPIP practice test page.

Paragon says the program is built by CELPIP experts and gives you three things: study materials, an instructor, and classmates. It adds that “Enrolment in a CELPIP Preparation Program is not administered by Paragon Testing Enterprises”, so you enrol with the school, not with Paragon. The program page listed 151 providers when we read it, in person and online.

Paragon describes the standard program in its page for prep providers. It runs to 72 hours, in four 18-hour skills modules.

Each provider writes its own description and sets its own price and schedule, so one provider's course is not the same as another's. Ask these questions before you pay. They are our checklist.

1. Is the course the CELPIP Preparation Program, or the school's own course that mentions CELPIP?
2. How many hours are live, and how many are recorded or self-study?
3. Who gives feedback on Writing and Speaking, and how quickly?
4. Is the teacher trained to rate CELPIP responses, or is it general English teaching?
5. How many students are in a class?
6. What is the refund and make-up policy if you miss a class?

Other companies sell CELPIP preparation too. We say only what their own pages say. We have no way to test their teaching, and we do not rank them.

E2Language: a CELPIP General course

Our reading: the red-flag list further down this page treats a guaranteed score as a warning sign, so read E2's terms for the Premium package before you pay.

E2's course page lists features such as “100s of practice questions”, “Live Classes with an Expert Teacher”, “Writing and Speaking Assessments”, “One-on-one Tutorials” and “Mock Tests”. The packages differ, as the table above shows, and E2 says its comparison table lists “all the CELPIP General package inclusions”. E2 says its teachers give feedback on writing and speaking assessments within 48 hours. The access length rises with the package, from 90 days to 365 days. Open “See all features” for the package you want before you pay.

Preply, italki and Cambly: tutors and conversation practice

On the italki point: its CELPIP guide says results are available “within 4-5 business days”, while Paragon says scores are available online in 2-4 business days. When a tutor site and Paragon disagree about the test, Paragon's pages are the ones to follow.

Our reading, not Paragon's. No single course suits everyone. The right one depends on what is holding your score back.

Be careful with promises. Paragon says “providing responses that are not original and/or spontaneous may result in score cancellation”. Paragon also lists “memorizing test answers” among the actions it counts as cheating. A course that gives you a memorised template to recite for every Writing or Speaking task puts your result at risk. Good teaching builds skills, not scripts.

Red flags, in our view: a guaranteed score, “real exam questions”, a price that is only good today, and no way to see a sample lesson first.

Teacher Mike. We could not tie this name to one course page. The one source we can quote is E2Language's CELPIP podcast page, which says: “E2 Expert Teacher Mark chats with another E2 Expert Teacher, Mike about the CELPIP test.” It also says both are from Canada. That page does not say Mike teaches a course of his own, so check whose name is on the page you land on, and who is selling.

CELPIP Project and sample test apps. Paragon's pages that we read describe online practice tests and do not describe an app. Several independent apps use names like “CELPIP Sample Tests” or “CELPIP Project”. One of them, on Google Play, says of itself: “ExamHero is an independent study app. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the Government of Canada, IRCC, or Paragon Testing Enterprises.” It adds: “All scores in this app are practice estimates and are not official CELPIP results.” Use apps for practice, never as proof of your level.

Common questions