How Many Questions Are in CELPIP Listening?
Thirty-eight scored questions, six parts, and one unscored practice task before any of it counts. This page gives you the part-by-part breakdown and then a free full listening test built to exactly those numbers.
The short answer is 38. CELPIP Listening carries 38 scored questions across six parts, and before Part 1 there is one extra practice task that is not scored and does not appear in your total. If a bigger number has lodged in your head it is probably the speaking section, which has eight tasks, or the whole test, which adds Reading own 38.
The number is worth knowing precisely, because the questions are not spread evenly. Two parts carry eight questions each and one carries five, so a part you write off is not worth the same as any other part you write off.
How many questions in each CELPIP listening part
| Part | Questions | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Listening to Problem SolvingThree audio sections, spoken questions | 8 | 8 min |
| 2. Daily Life ConversationOne clip, spoken questions, 30 sec each | 5 | 5 min |
| 3. Listening for InformationOne clip, spoken questions, 30 sec each | 6 | 6 min |
| 4. Listening to a News ItemPrinted sentence completions, any order | 5 | 5 min |
| 5. Listening to a DiscussionThree speakers, printed completions | 8 | 9 min |
| 6. Listening for ViewpointsOne prepared talk, printed completions | 6 | 8 min |
| Total | 38 | 41 min |
Six parts. Eight, five, six, five, eight, six. Parts 1 and 5 are the heavy ones at eight questions each, and together they are 16 of the 38, which is about 42 per cent of the section sitting in two parts.
Two things the question count does not tell you
The questions do not all arrive the same way. In Parts 1, 2 and 3 the question is spoken to you after the clip, one at a time, with only the four options on screen and thirty seconds each. In Parts 4, 5 and 6 nothing is spoken: every question in the part is printed on one screen as a sentence with a gap, with one time budget for the whole screen and no fixed order. That is two different engines, and running the wrong tactics on one of them is a cheap way to lose marks.
The audio plays once. It starts on its own, there is no pause button and no progress bar, and nothing is deducted for a wrong answer, so an unanswered question is a mark handed back for free.
The 38 questions on Listening Test 7
Test 7 is rated Easy and is set in and around Thunder Bay. Part 1 is a man whose basement flooded in a summer storm at a city hall service counter, with the clerk who looks after the sewer backup programme, in three audio sections with questions after each. Part 2 is two cousins in a shop classroom a few minutes before their evening small-engine repair class. Part 3 is a man who has just had a wood stove installed and the certified chimney sweep who has come to look at it.
Part 4 is a news report on the end of the shipping season at the Port of Thunder Bay. Part 5 is Solveig, Merrick and Ainsley, three members of a snowmobile club in northwestern Ontario, arguing about a trail that crosses private land. Part 6 is part of a prepared talk to health professionals about why physicians recruited to northern communities leave again. Before all of it there is one unscored practice task at a hospital information desk.
How the 38 become a band
Listening is marked, not judged. Every question has one correct answer, you are scored the moment you submit, and your raw score out of 38 converts to a CLB level from 1 to 12. The CELPIP listening score chart has the conversion, and the listening score calculator will do it for you.
Tips that follow from the numbers
- Do not write off Part 5. Eight questions is more than a fifth of the section, and it is the only part with three speakers to keep apart.
- In Parts 1 to 3, a question you cannot answer still costs thirty seconds, so guess early and spend the rest getting ready for the next stem.
- In Parts 4 to 6, answer the ones you are sure of first. One budget covers the whole screen and you may answer in any order.
- Set up three lines of notes before Part 5 starts. You are told there are three speakers before you hear a word.
- Never leave a blank. Nothing is deducted for a wrong answer.
Free, six parts, marked against the answer key the moment you finish.
FAQs
How many questions are in CELPIP Listening?
Thirty-eight scored questions across six parts, plus one unscored practice task that runs before Part 1 and does not count toward your score.
How are the 38 questions split between the parts?
Part 1 Problem Solving has 8, Part 2 Daily Life Conversation has 5, Part 3 Listening for Information has 6, Part 4 News Item has 5, Part 5 Discussion has 8 and Part 6 Viewpoints has 6.
How long is the CELPIP listening section?
The six parts carry 41 minutes of clock between them, split 8, 5, 6, 5, 9 and 8 minutes. Paragon schedules more than that for the section overall because of the instruction screens.
Can I replay the audio?
No. Each clip plays once, it starts on its own, and there is no pause button and no progress bar. That is true of the real exam and it is true here.
What is on listening test 7?
Six clips set around Thunder Bay: a flooded basement at a city hall counter, two cousins before a small-engine repair class, a chimney sweep looking at a new wood stove, a news report on the end of the shipping season at the port, three snowmobile club members arguing over a trail across private land, and a talk on why physicians leave northern communities.