Is the CELPIP Exam Corrupt? The Truth About Inconsistent Scores

Foreign.

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

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

Who am I?

My name is Aaron and I've been an English teacher for over 17 years and I'm a certified Celpip trainer and I can't wait to help you get ready for your CELPIP exam.

I've come across many examples of people expressing how frustrated they feel with their Celpip exam results after multiple attempts.

But each attempt results in different results where one time reading was at a higher level, like a 9 for example.

Then in a second attempt when they were aiming to improve another skill, the reading one is a score that has actually fallen.

When they get the results back, like their scores aren't consistent, what they want to see happen.

I already have a 9 in reading and say listening for example.

But now I need to take the exam again and boost my speaking and writing skills that seem stuck at an eight.

But each time I take the exam, the other scores that I had at the right level move and no matter what I do, I feel like I can't get them all to align at the right level at the right time.

That was complicated to say and it's a complicated situation to be in.

And even worse, it's super frustrating and depressing, isn't it?

It's like trying to build a puzzle, but someone keeps changing the pieces on you so that when you go to put them together they never seem to frickin fit the result in the Reddit post I'm drawing the inspiration for this episode from at the time of recording this, there's 29 comments already, some expressing ideas of what to do and many expressing deep frustration because they are experiencing the same thing many multiple attempts and never being able to align their results at the same time.

The conclusion that they come up with is that the CELPIP is doing this on purpose.

It's a money grab.

And before I go any farther, I'm on your side here.

I'm not paid by the CELPIP and I don't work for them in any way, shape or form.

So that's not coloring my response to this deeply frustrating situation at all.

So it does make sense, doesn't it?

To wonder if the CELPIP is just doing this to grab your money?

It's easy to make the exam the CULPRIT it's easy to call it corrupt and accuse them of taking advantage of your very real painful, frustrating immigration situation.

You're feeling stuck.

You're feeling defeated.

You're feeling frustrated and fed up and tired and just ready to give up.

Like you've tried everything and paid tons of money in the process and it's still not working for you.

Those are all totally valid feelings in your shoes.

If I were in your shoes, my friend, I'd be feeling the exact same thing.

And I know I'd also be wondering to myself, or maybe even saying it out loud like some of these people have, that the CELPIP must just be out to get my money.

They don't care about me.

They don't care about my process.

I'm just a number and a dollar sign to them.

But here's a question that I'd like to offer you that I hope will help.

Is this mindset?

The mindset of pointing at the celpip and saying they're corrupt, they're just out to grab money?

While totally understandable, is that mindset helpful?

It feels good to express it.

It feels good to vent it, I'll give you that.

But it's not what will make a difference for you and your real need to score higher on the exam.

But here's what will let's reframe what's happening with your repeat stuck exam results.

You're not scoring at the same levels or all over the place with a few scores because you're dumb or stupid or because English just is not your thing.

And all of those responses, by the way, are ones that I've seen people in your shoes making as they stare at yet another lower than desire exam result.

I must be stupid.

I must be dumb.

I just.

I guess I'm just not good at English.

Friend, take a breath.

Those aren't true.

And instead of pointing the finger at the exam, or even worse, at yourself with like an accusatory sort of ah, I'm just not good at this.

Instead of pointing fingers like that, let's take back some control and look at things differently.

Here's the first way the exam is talking to you.

Did you know that?

It's telling you about your current level of English.

And if you keep getting lower than needed scores, like consistent sevens, for example, when you need a nine, the exam is telling you, hey, your English level is intermediate.

If you take the exam again, maybe for the third, fourth or fifth time, and you're still getting that same stubborn seven or eight, it's still Telling you, hey, your English level is intermediate.

That means something really important and maybe not something that you want to hear.

A nine.

The score that you're aiming for is actually a strong upper intermediate level of English, nearly advanced.

While on paper it looks like a small gap between a seven and a nine, right?

It actually that moving from that seven to a nine can and often does represent a year or more of hard, focused practice with your English skills.

It's not a simple matter of just trying harder and taking the exam another five or six more times, hoping that your result will magically grow.

Because it won't if all you're doing is taking the exam again and again and again.

So that's the first reframe I have for you that will empower you to make a difference.

Listen to what the exam is trying to tell you.

Your consistent score is very likely what your level of English is.

In order to score higher, you need to do the work of building your general English skills.

Period.

The second reframe I have for you, blaming the exam for being corrupt is only taking power and control away from you.

It leads you to feeling powerless against a giant.

In the comments of the Reddit post I'm speaking about, there's even one commenter who goes down that dark road.

What can I do against this big, terrible exam?

It's just way too big for me.

You know what?

You don't need to put yourself into yet another situation where you feel powerless.

Being an immigrant gives you way more than enough situations like that as it is, doesn't it?

So don't do that to yourself here.

Instead, see the celpip like a mirror.

It's showing you what you look like with your language skills.

When you look at a real mirror and you don't like what you see, you don't blame the mirror, right?

Aye, stupid mirror.

It keeps showing me stuff that I don't like.

It keeps making me feel ugly.

I don't like looking at the mirror.

The mirror is just showing you what you look like.

If you don't like what you see, you can change some things about how you look.

You don't go out and buy a new mirror, right?

So you could change the way you look by changing your clothes, for example, you can look better.

You're in control of that feeling like you're out of shape when you look at that mirror.

That's been the feedback that I get.

Sometimes when I look at my.

My tummy, it feels like there's a.

There's a bit more to my tummy.

Than what I actually want there to be.

But I can do something about that.

I can take more walks.

I can exercise a little bit more each day.

I can eat smarter.

I can choose to say no to that extra piece of dessert, which is hard to do.

I can choose not to open up that bag of chips when I'm watching a movie, which is really hard to do.

And I can choose to eat something different, something that's better for me.

I can choose to do more instead of sitting more often than what I normally do.

Gradually, just like learning a language, those actions, those little choices will begin changing my physical appearance.

But I sure need to be patient and I sure need to be consistent at it.

The same, my friend, is true with the celpip.

You are not as powerless as you are feeling right now.

Take control back by reframing the exam this is a language mirror.

What is it showing me?

What can I do today to begin getting into better reading, listening, writing or speaking?

Shape?

I mean, I guess one great thing about the exam is that it shows you specifically which part you need to focus on.

It's not like this generalized, oh well, your English is, you know, generally at an intermediate.

It tells you exactly where you need to focus and it will help shape if you're paying attention and if you're listening to what it's telling you.

It will help you to shape the kind of workouts that you need to give yourself.

To keep using that exercise metaphor that, my friend, is how to move past this frustrating situation.

Don't fall for pointing outward.

Instead, bring control back to who and where it belongs with you.

Part of taking that control back might be realizing where you're stuck and that maybe you're not even sure what to do in order to get your speaking skills, for example, into better shape.

Like maybe you've tried everything that you can think of using ChatGPT or watching English YouTube videos, but you just can't find what you're doing wrong.

I can help you with that.

For starters, we can jump on a free 30 minute so clarity call to talk about your exact frustration point.

I'll help you look at your preparation strategy and help you spot where you can fine tune it to produce better results.

Now, there's zero sales at all in this conversation.

There's zero pressure from me.

I am an introvert.

I am quiet.

I am calm.

I don't pressure anyone.

But I am great at listening.

I'm great at asking questions to help you figure out what you're doing right and what you can do to improve your preparation.

It's just me listening to you.

If you jump on this call to me, you're going to come away with a clear idea of what you can be doing to improve your test prep.

So if you want to take me up on that offer, there's a link in my show notes you can book a link with.

Book a link, you can book a call with me and we'll get this process started.

I would love to talk with you.

Thank you so much for listening or watching this episode.

I hope that you'll come back again next time.

Bye bye.

Hello and welcome to the Celtip Success Podcast.

The most introvert friendly podcast on the planet, dedicated to helping you confidently prepare for and conquer the Celpip exam.

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

Who am I?

My name is Aaron and I've been an English teacher for over 17 years and I'm a certified Celpip trainer and I can't wait to help you get ready for your Celpip examination.