Free B1 exam tool
B1 letter planner and task-point checklist
In telc and the DTZ, the first thing the grader scores is a count: how many of the four given points your text actually handles. Goethe bands its content criterion the same way, and drops a task to zero if the text is off topic or under half the required length. All of that is settled before you write a word. This planner takes the task sheet in front of you, prints what your exam publishes about it, and turns it into a plan you tick off.
Every line you write here stays in this tab. Nothing is saved, submitted, put in the address bar or included in analytics. That also means closing the tab loses the plan, so copy it onto your paper before you go.
The planner needs JavaScript. Every published requirement it uses — the number of content points, the length rule, the working time, the salutation rule and the grading criteria for all four tasks — is written out further down this page, and the German phrases are in the letter guide.
Step 1 of 5
Get a task first
Fetch a real task, then come back
Planning an imagined task teaches you nothing about the exam, because the points and the situation are the whole difficulty. All three providers publish complete practice material free, with the task sheets and the answer keys in the same download.
Your exam's free practice material
The practice-test guide lists what is inside each free set and how to mark it once you have written.
What kind of letter is it, and who to?
These two choices decide the German that goes at the top and the bottom of your letter. They come straight from the five B1 letter templates.
Write one line for each point
Write in whichever language you plan in. Nobody sees these lines but you — they are not sent anywhere and they are not graded here.
Tick each part as you plan it
This is the order to write in. Tick a row when you know what that part of the letter will say. The German is the ready-made move for your template and register; the rest is yours.
What your provider publishes for this task
Your plan
Your plan
Still unplanned
Now write it
- Copy the plan onto your paper in this order, then write the letter. The mock exam timer will run the writing module on your provider's published clock, so you find out now whether the plan fits the time.
- Stuck for the German in the middle of the letter? The five B1 letter templates print the moves for each template, formal and informal, with a model letter for each — or read the same guide auf Deutsch.
- Once it is marked, the result calculator measures your section scores against the published thresholds, and the practice planner puts your weakest part first.
What this plan does not tell you
It tells you that you have a line for each point your task names, in an order you chose, with the salutation and closing that belong together. It says nothing about the German you will write: the planner never reads your lines, cannot judge them, and issues no score, level or pass verdict.
Formats change. Before the exam, check the task requirements against your own provider's current material and your exam centre.
What each exam requires of the letter
Everything the planner uses is printed below, so you can check it against your own task sheet and see that the tool is telling you the truth. The German names are the ones on your candidate sheets.
Goethe-Zertifikat B1
The Schreiben module runs 60 minutes and holds three tasks: an informal e-mail, a discussion post, and a formal e-mail. You may start with whichever one you like.
| Task | Content points | Length | Time | Salutation and closing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Task 1 — the informal e-mailSchreiben, Aufgabe 1 | 3 | circa 80 Wörter | 20 minutes | The task sheet tells you to watch the structure: „Achten Sie auf den Textaufbau (Anrede, Einleitung, Reihenfolge der Inhaltspunkte, Schluss).“ Salutation, opening, the order of the content points, and a close. |
| Task 3 — the short formal e-mailSchreiben, Aufgabe 3 | No fixed number published | circa 40 Wörter | 15 minutes | The task sheet says it outright: „Vergessen Sie nicht die Anrede und den Gruß am Schluss.“ Do not forget the salutation and the closing. |
Task 1 — the informal e-mail. The task sheet says: Schreiben Sie eine E-Mail (circa 80 Wörter). Schreiben Sie etwas zu allen drei Punkten.
— Write an e-mail of about 80 words. Write something about all three points.
The points. The task sheet says to write something about all three points, and the top band of the content criterion reads „Alle 3 Sprachfunktionen inhaltlich und umfänglich angemessen behandelt“ — all three language functions handled appropriately in content and in length.
Length. About 80 words. A text under 50 per cent of the required word count, or off the topic, is rated E on Erfüllung, and a task rated E on Erfüllung scores zero for that task.
Subject line. Goethe does not name a subject line for this task. Plan one only if you want it; nothing published requires it.
Graded on. Erfüllung, Kohärenz, Wortschatz, Strukturen. Erfüllung covers content, length and the language functions, plus whether the text reads as that kind of text and fits the situation and the addressee. Kohärenz covers the structure and how sentences are joined. Wortschatz and Strukturen cover range and control.
- Band A on Erfüllung: all three handled appropriately in content and in length.
- Band B: two language functions appropriate, or one appropriate and two partly.
- Band C: one appropriate and one partly, or all of them only partly.
- Band E is the floor: off topic, or under half the required length. That scores zero for this task.
Source: Goethe-Institut, published practice set for adults, module Schreiben, candidate sheets and grading criteria.
Task 3 — the short formal e-mail. The task sheet says: Schreiben Sie eine E-Mail (circa 40 Wörter). Vergessen Sie nicht die Anrede und den Gruß am Schluss.
— Write an e-mail of about 40 words. Do not forget the salutation and the closing at the end.
The points. Goethe publishes no fixed number of points for this task. The published practice task names two moves: apologise politely, and report why you cannot come. Count the moves your own task sheet names and set the rows to match.
Length. About 40 words. The same rule applies: a text under 50 per cent of the required word count, or off the topic, is rated E on Erfüllung, and that scores zero for the task.
Subject line. Goethe does not name a subject line for this task either. It costs you nothing to add one, and nothing published asks for it.
Graded on. Erfüllung, Kohärenz, Wortschatz, Strukturen. For this task Erfüllung is banded on the message itself — is the content and the social register appropriate — and the other three criteria are graded as in task 1.
- Erfüllung here bands the message rather than a count of points: appropriate in content and socioculturally, then mostly, then in places, then hardly. Band E is off topic or under half the length, and scores zero for the task.
Source: Goethe-Institut, published practice set for adults, module Schreiben, candidate sheets and grading criteria.
Goethe task 2 is not in the planner. It is a Diskussionsbeitrag, a post in a broadcaster's online guest book, and Goethe sets no content points for it: the whole instruction is Schreiben Sie nun Ihre Meinung zum Thema (circa 80 Wörter)
, write your opinion on the topic in about 80 words, with 25 minutes of suggested working time. Its content criterion is banded on whether the opinion is appropriate in content and in length, not on a count of points. A task-point checklist for a task with no published points would have to invent the points, which is the one thing this tool exists not to do.
telc Deutsch B1
The Schriftlicher Ausdruck subtest is one task: reply to an e-mail, informal or semi-formal, covering four given points, in 30 minutes.
| Task | Content points | Length | Time | Salutation and closing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The reply e-mailSchriftlicher Ausdruck | 4 | —No word count published | 30 minutes | The task sheet asks you to think of a suitable salutation, opening and close before you write, and the grading note refuses band A where the features of a personal or semi-formal e-mail are missing. |
The reply e-mail. The task sheet says: Antworten Sie auf die E-Mail. Schreiben Sie etwas zu allen vier Punkten.
— Reply to the e-mail. Write something about all four points.
The points. The structure table calls it a „Schreibaufgabe mit 4 Leitpunkten“ and the task says „Schreiben Sie etwas zu allen vier Punkten“. A point counts as handled if it is dealt with sensibly, is still understandable and relates to the task. One short sentence is enough, and two points may be handled in a single sentence.
Length. telc publishes no word count for this task. Covering the four points is what the content criterion measures.
Subject line. Two published sentences pull in different directions, so here they both are. The task sheet says „Überlegen Sie sich vor dem Schreiben eine passende Reihenfolge der Punkte, einen passenden Betreff, eine passende Anrede, Einleitung und einen passenden Schluss.“ The note under the second criterion says the task is a personal or semi-formal e-mail and therefore the letter features — sender, addressee, date, subject line — are „nicht gefordert“, not required. Plan one if you want it; do not spend points' worth of time on it.
Graded on. I Aufgabenbewältigung, II Kommunikative Gestaltung, III Formale Richtigkeit. Criterion I is content: how many of the four points are handled appropriately. Criterion II is range, structure and text logic, including register. Criterion III is formal accuracy, judged first on whether the reader can still take in the text quickly.
- Band A on criterion I: all four points handled appropriately in content.
- Band B: three points handled appropriately.
- Band C: two points handled appropriately.
- Band D: only one or no point handled appropriately. Language is still graded, unless the text has little or no connection to the prompt.
- Band D: only one or no point handled appropriately. Language is still graded, unless the text has little or no connection to the prompt.
Source: telc gGmbH, telc Deutsch B1 Übungstest 1, 13th edition 2020, and the telc Deutsch B1 exam page.
Deutsch-Test für Zuwanderer
The Schreiben part is one task chosen from two: a semi-formal or formal message, letter or e-mail, covering four given points, in 30 minutes.
| Task | Content points | Length | Time | Salutation and closing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The letter or e-mailSchreiben | 4 | —No word count published | 30 minutes | Compulsory, and printed on the task sheet: „Vergessen Sie nicht die Anrede und den Gruß.“ g.a.s.t. repeats it: the text is to contain a salutation and a closing. |
The letter or e-mail. The task sheet says: Wählen Sie Aufgabe A oder Aufgabe B. Schreiben Sie etwas zu folgenden Punkten. Vergessen Sie nicht die Anrede und den Gruß.
— Choose task A or task B. Write something about the following points. Do not forget the salutation and the closing.
The points. g.a.s.t. writes that the task names four content points in note form which are to be dealt with, and both published tasks print „Schreiben Sie etwas zu folgenden Punkten“ with four bullets. Remember to tick on the answer sheet which of the two tasks you chose.
Length. The DTZ publishes no word count. The task sheet says „Zeigen Sie, was Sie können. Schreiben Sie möglichst viel.“ — show what you can do, write as much as you can.
Subject line. Neither g.a.s.t. nor the practice set asks for a subject line. Only the salutation and the closing are named as required.
Graded on. I Aufgabenbewältigung, II Kommunikative Gestaltung, III Korrektheit, IV Wortschatz. Those are the names on the practice set's criteria page. The same document's points table calls the first one Inhalt, and g.a.s.t.'s website lists the four as Kommunikative Gestaltung, Ausdruck, Korrektheit and Inhalt. Same four criteria, two sets of labels.
- Top band on criterion I: all four points handled precisely in content. All four handled but needing the reader to cooperate sits one band lower.
- Three points handled appropriately sits in the same band as four handled with reader cooperation.
- Two points handled appropriately.
- Only one point handled.
- No point handled, or the topic or the situation missed, scores zero on every criterion.
Source: g.a.s.t., Der DTZ auf einen Blick, and DTZ-Übungssatz 1.
Where these requirements come from
The Goethe grading rules are in the Durchführungsbestimmungen, the terms for administering the exam, in force since 1 September 2025; the three writing tasks, their working times and the grading criteria are printed in the published practice set for adults, which you can also reach from the Goethe B1 exam-training page. The telc structure is on the telc Deutsch B1 page, and the task, the four Leitpunkte and the grading criteria are in Übungstest 1, also available as a free ZIP with the audio. The DTZ requirements come from g.a.s.t.'s description of the exam and from the task and criteria pages of Übungssatz 1; there are also interactive DTZ tasks that mark themselves.
Two places the sources disagree
The telc subject line. The task sheet tells you to think of a suitable Betreff before you write. The note under the second grading criterion says the task is a personal or semi-formal e-mail, so the features of a letter — sender, addressee, date, subject line — are nicht gefordert
, not required. Both sentences are published by telc, in the same booklet. The planner therefore offers the subject line as an optional row and quotes both, rather than telling you it is compulsory.
What the DTZ calls its criteria. The practice set's criteria page names them I Aufgabenbewältigung, II Kommunikative Gestaltung, III Korrektheit, IV Wortschatz. The points table in the same document calls the first one Inhalt, and g.a.s.t.'s own website lists the four as Kommunikative Gestaltung, Ausdruck, Korrektheit and Inhalt. They are the same four criteria under two sets of labels, so the planner prints the criteria page's names and says so.
What this planner is not
It is not a corrector and not a marker. It never reads the lines you write, cannot tell you whether your German is right, and issues no score, no level and no pass verdict. What it checks is structural: does every point your task names have a plan, is the salutation and closing pair consistent, and does the length rule apply to your task.
It holds no exam content either. There is no model letter in it, because the model letters and the ready-made phrases already live in the five B1 letter templates. The planner takes two things from that guide — the opening and closing move for each template, and the salutation-and-closing pairs — and applies them to your own task.
Nothing is stored. Your exam, your task, your letter template, your register and every line you type live in this tab only. Closing it ends the plan for good, and nothing is sent anywhere.
Once the plan is done
Write the letter under the provider's own clock with the mock exam timer, which runs the writing module on its published time. If you need the German in the middle of the letter, the five B1 letter templates has the moves and a model letter for each template — the same guide is available auf Deutsch. Do not have a task yet? The practice-test guide lists every free official set and how to mark it.
Afterwards, put the marked numbers into the B1 result calculator to see them against the published thresholds, and take your weakest part into the practice planner. Still choosing between the exams? The B1 exam guide compares them.