I suspect they're referring to the
minimum thresholds to be eligible for certain Express Entry programs, which you appear to exceed. There is also a "barrier" of sorts when it comes to scoring-- a CLB below some thresholds puts the applicant at a
points disadvantage that can sometimes mean the difference between receiving an ITA or not. For example, with 12/11/8/12, I would score 420 points, but with 12/11/9/12, I would score 478 points. That's such a tiny score improvement, but it equates to a 58 point difference due to the bonus having 9+ in each category gives. Huge! You can plug in your scores to the
CRS tool online to see how improving your scores would affect your points.
I received my CELPIP scores on Feb 20 and requested a re-evaluation of the writing section that day. I just received my re-evaluated score online today (March 6), exactly 2 weeks after requesting it. My writing score went up 2 points!
Original: R:12 L:11 W:8 S:12
Re-evaluated: R:12 L:11 W:10 S:12
That's a huge relief to me. It means I'll be able to get max points in the CRS. It also means I get my $55 back (although the weaker exchange rate means I'll get less USD back than I paid...)