Use this CELPIP Speaking Task 7 template: state your position in one sentence, then give two reasons, and spend most of your time developing those reasons with an example and a consequence each. Task 7 is Expressing Opinions. You get 30 seconds to prepare and 90 seconds to speak, once, with no second take.
Task 7 gives you the second-longest speaking time on the test and the shortest thing to say. Stating an opinion takes about four seconds. The remaining eighty-six are the task, and our data shows that is exactly where most answers thin out.
#What does CELPIP Speaking Task 7 ask you to do?
Task 7 gives you an everyday question with two defensible answers and asks what you think. Should employers pay for lunch breaks? Is it better to cook at home or eat out? Should people post publicly during emergencies?
There is no correct side. The question is chosen precisely because reasonable people disagree, and the marks come entirely from how well you support whichever side you take.
Try a Speaking Task 7 question →
#Which part of a Task 7 answer do learners actually miss?
Almost everyone states an opinion. Barely a third support it properly.
We looked at 13520 anonymised, aggregated Speaking Task 7 responses on HelloCelpip and checked each one against what the task asks for. Our evaluator judged that about 96% stated a clear position and about 93% held that position all the way through. Only about 35% gave enough supported reasons.
| What the task asks for | Share of responses that did it |
|---|---|
| Gave enough supported reasons | about 35% |
| Held that position throughout | about 93% |
| Stated a clear position | about 96% |
This is the widest gap on any Speaking task except Describing a Scene, and it is the same pattern we find across Writing and Speaking. Learners follow the instruction, then stop. The instruction says give your opinion, so they give their opinion, and the part that actually carries the marks never arrives.
It usually shows up in one of two shapes. Some answers state a position and then repeat it in different words for a minute, which feels like development while adding nothing. Others list four or five reasons quickly, none of them developed, and then run out of things to say at the sixty-second mark.
#What counts as a supported reason?
A reason plus something that makes it real. One example, one consequence, or one piece of experience. Without that, it is an assertion.
| Assertion | Supported reason |
|---|---|
| Paid lunch breaks are good for productivity. | People come back sharper after a real break. In my last job we moved from eating at our desks to a proper half hour, and the afternoon mistakes on the order system dropped noticeably. |
| It is fairer to workers. | If you are on site for eight and a half hours, you have given up eight and a half hours of your day. Being paid for eight of them means the half hour comes out of your own time, which is not how any other part of the job works. |
| Cooking at home is cheaper. | A week of home cooking for two costs me somewhere around a third of what the same meals cost delivered, and that gap is the difference between saving something each month and not. |
Notice the length. Ninety seconds is comfortably enough for two reasons at this depth, and not nearly enough for five.
#A CELPIP Speaking Task 7 template you can adapt
Position, two developed reasons, one acknowledgement of the other side, then a close. That shape fills 90 seconds without padding.
I think [your position, in one clear sentence].
The main reason is [reason one]. [What happens as a result.] For example, [one concrete instance from your own experience or an ordinary situation].
The second reason is [reason two]. [What happens as a result.] I have seen this when [one concrete instance].
I understand why some people think [the other side], and [the one fair point they have]. But [why your reason still outweighs it].
So overall, I would say [restate your position in different words].Roughly two thirds of your speaking time should sit inside the two reason blocks. If your opening and closing take more than twenty seconds combined, they are too long.
#Should you mention the other side?
Yes, briefly, and it is worth understanding why it helps rather than treating it as a rule.
Acknowledging the opposing view shows the rater you have considered the question rather than reacted to it, which is exactly what Content and Coherence rewards. It also gives you a natural block of language near the end, which is useful when you still have twenty seconds and have said everything you planned.
The risk is doing it too early or too long. About 93% of the responses we looked at held their position throughout, so most people avoid this, but the ones who slip usually do it by giving the other side so much airtime that the answer stops sounding like an opinion at all. One or two sentences, placed near the end, then return to your side.
#Two worked answers
The question for both: should employers give workers paid lunch breaks?
I think employers should give workers paid lunch breaks. It is very important for workers to have a break during the day. I believe that companies should pay for this time because it is good for everyone. Workers need to eat and rest, and if they do not get a break they will be tired. So paid lunch breaks are a good idea and I think all companies should have them. It is better for the workers and also better for the company. That is my opinion on this question.
Why it loses marks: there is one idea here, expressed six times. No example, no consequence, nothing specific. It fills the time without developing anything, and a rater has nothing to reward under Content and Coherence beyond the position itself.
I think employers should pay for lunch breaks.
The main reason is that people work better after a real break. When the break is unpaid, most people either skip it or eat at their desk to save time, and they are worse at their jobs all afternoon as a result. In my last job we moved from eating at our desks to taking a proper half hour, and the number of mistakes on the afternoon orders dropped noticeably within a month.
The second reason is about what you are actually giving up. If you have to be on site for eight and a half hours, then eight and a half hours of your day are gone, whatever happens in the middle of them. Being paid for only eight of those means the last half hour comes out of your own time, and that is not how we treat any other part of the working day.
I understand the argument on the other side. For a small business, paying thirty minutes a day across ten staff adds up to a real cost, and that is a fair point.
But I would still say the productivity you get back covers most of it, so overall I think the break should be paid.
Why it works: two reasons, each followed by a consequence and something concrete. The opposing view gets one honest sentence and is then answered. The whole answer is about the same length as the weak one, but almost all of it is new information.
#What are the 30 seconds of preparation for?
Choosing the side you have examples for. Not the side you believe.
This is the single most useful habit on Task 7. You are not being marked on sincerity, and nobody will ever know which way you actually lean. If one side gives you a specific instance from your own life and the other gives you a principle you agree with, take the one with the instance.
Spend the first ten seconds picking that side. Spend the remaining twenty finding your two reasons and, for each, one concrete thing to attach to it. Do not plan sentences. Plan the two examples, because those are what you will forget under pressure.
#How much do you need to say in 90 seconds?
There is no word requirement, since it is a spoken task. As a guide, Task 7 answers on HelloCelpip average about 175 words across the 90 seconds, which is an ordinary, unhurried pace.
That is noticeably more than the 60-second tasks demand, and it is why Task 7 punishes thin content more than any other Speaking task. On a 60-second task you can survive on two undeveloped reasons. Here you cannot: there is simply too much time left over.
#What do CELPIP raters listen for?
Every Speaking response is rated in four areas, published in the CELPIP Speaking Performance Standards.
The official description of Content and Coherence names examples and supporting details directly. That is not our interpretation, it is the published standard, and it lines up exactly with the gap our own data shows. The requirement is stated in the open. It is just the one most people skip.
Across more than 11,600 anonymised, aggregated Task 7 responses on HelloCelpip, about a third of everything our evaluator flags is a vocabulary problem, with the other three areas sitting close together behind it. But on this task specifically, the change that moves a response most is not vocabulary. It is taking two reasons somewhere instead of five nowhere.
#Common Task 7 mistakes
- Restating the opinion instead of supporting it. Only about 35% of responses we looked at gave enough supported reasons.
- Listing reasons instead of developing them. Two with examples beats five without, every time.
- Choosing the side you believe rather than the side you have examples for.
- Giving the other side too much time, so the answer stops sounding like an opinion.
- Running dry at sixty seconds. Ninety is long, and thin content shows here more than anywhere else.
- Ending abruptly when the timer approaches. Keep one closing sentence in reserve.
- Using I think as a filler before every sentence. Say it once at the start and once at the end.
#How to practise Task 7
Answer the same question twice, taking the opposite side the second time. It is uncomfortable, and it is the fastest way to learn that your marks come from support rather than sincerity.
Then listen back with one question in mind: how many concrete things did you say? Names, numbers, places, moments. If the answer is none, that is the gap, and it is the same gap our data finds in about two thirds of responses.
#Frequently asked questions
What is CELPIP Speaking Task 7?
How long do you get for CELPIP Speaking Task 7?
Is there a correct side in Task 7?
What do learners get wrong most often in Task 7?
How many reasons should I give in Task 7?
Should I talk about the opposite opinion?
How many words should a Task 7 answer be?
Confirm the eight Speaking tasks and the 15-minute Speaking section on the official CELPIP Test Format page. Per-task timing of 30 seconds to prepare and 90 seconds to speak is published in CELPIP’s own Speaking Pro study pack, and the four rated areas, including examples and supporting details within Content and Coherence, come from the CELPIP Speaking Performance Standards. Your HelloCelpip level uses the same 0 to 12 CELPIP scale, so you can track real progress between now and test day. Your official score comes from Paragon Testing Enterprises on test day. HelloCelpip is an independent study resource and is not affiliated with CELPIP or Paragon Testing Enterprises.
Official sources:
Last updated: July 27, 2026