Exam Formats and Scoring Guide

The single biggest time-waster when preparing for a German exam is not knowing how it is scored. How many questions each section has, how many correct answers you actually need, which rules can wipe your writing score to zero — preparing without knowing these is working blind.

This guide is based on the official Goethe-Institut Modellsatz / Übungssatz papers and the Durchführungsbestimmungen (exam regulations). No guesswork, no second-hand claims — every table comes from an official source.

Quick Comparison: A1 – A2 – B1

Three rows in this table shape your entire preparation strategy:

1. A1 runs in a different order. At A1 the exam starts with listening; at A2 and B1 it starts with reading. Candidates who don't know this get an unwelcome surprise on exam morning.

2. Only B1 is modular. At B1 you can take all four skills separately, on different dates. If you pass three and fail one, you only retake that one. There is no such thing at A1 or A2 — you pass or fail the whole exam.

3. Only B1 gives you preparation time. The B1 speaking exam includes 15 minutes for making notes. At A1 and A2 there is none; you take the card and start speaking.

LEVEL A1

Goethe-Zertifikat A1 — Start Deutsch 1

A1 certifies that you can handle the most basic everyday communication. The written sections run for 65 minutes with no break.

A1 Hören (Listening) — 15 items, ~20 minutes

A1 Lesen (Reading) — 15 items, 25 minutes

A1 Schreiben (Writing) — 15 points, 20 minutes

There are two tasks and they are completely different from each other:

Teil 1 — Formular ausfüllen / form filling (5 points)
You read a context text and fill in 5 missing fields on a form. Answers are single words or numbers (e.g. 4, Seeheim, bar, Sonntag). Each field is worth 1 point or 0 — no half points.

Teil 2 — Short message (10 points)
Around 30 words, with 3 content points (Leitpunkte) plus a salutation (Anrede) and a closing (Gruß).

So 90% of the score comes from the content points. Skip one of the three and you lose 3 points. A beautiful but incomplete text scores lower than a simple but complete one.

A1 Sprechen (Speaking) — 15 points, ~15 minutes

This is a group exam — up to 4 candidates. There is no preparation time.

A1 Score Calculation

Each section's raw score is multiplied by 1.66 and the results are added:

Pass rule: ≥60 points overall, and you must have sat every section. There is no per-section minimum — a weak section can be compensated by the others.

LEVEL A2

Goethe-Zertifikat A2

The A2 format is identical to Fit in Deutsch A2 (the version for younger candidates). Written sections run 90 minutes with no break.

A2 Lesen (Reading) — 20 items, 30 minutes

A2 Hören (Listening) — 20 items, ~30 minutes

A2 Schreiben (Writing) — 20 raw points → 25

Each task is judged on two criteria:

2 tasks × 2 criteria × 5 points = 20 raw points → ×1.25 → 25 scaled points

A2 Sprechen (Speaking) — 25 points

Total: 25 points

A2 Score Calculation and Pass Rule

LEVEL B1

Goethe-Zertifikat B1

B1 was developed jointly by the Goethe-Institut, ÖSD in Austria and the University of Fribourg in Switzerland — a trinational exam. That is why Goethe B1 and the ÖSD Zertifikat B1 share the same format.

B1 is modular — what does that mean?

You can take the four skills separately, on different dates. Each module stands alone:

• Each module is scored out of 100 points on its own
• You need ≥60 in each module separately
• Fail a module and you retake only that one
• There is no limit on retakes
• If you sit several modules on the same day, there is a break of at least 15 minutes between them

There is no such thing as an "overall pass mark" at B1. To pass all four modules you need 60 in each of them separately.

B1 Lesen (Reading) — 30 items, 65 minutes

B1 Hören (Listening) — 30 items, ~40 minutes

Teil 4 is a different kind of matching: the options are the same for every item (moderator / expert / parent) and can be reused. The "each option only once" rule from Lesen Teil 3 does not apply here.

Teil 2 and Teil 3 are played only once — and they carry the longest texts. Teil 3 draws 7 items from a single dialogue.

You get 60 seconds to read the questions before each section, plus 5 extra minutes at the end to transfer your answers to the answer sheet.

B1 Lesen and Hören Conversion Table (Umrechnungstabelle)

The 30 raw points are converted to the 100-point scale by an official table, not by simple multiplication:

B1 Schreiben (Writing) — 100 points, 60 minutes

Each task is judged on four criteria:

Each criterion has five grades: A / B / C / D / E

Write 35 words of flawless German for Aufgabe 1 and you still lose all 40 points. This is the harshest rule in B1 Schreiben and it dictates your time management: an imperfect but finished text always beats a perfect unfinished one.

What makes Aufgabe 2 different: unlike the other two, you get no content points. You read a forum comment and write your own opinion in about 80 words. The structure is up to you — but Kohärenz is still worth 10 points, so think through your opening, argument and closing before deciding you've "stated an opinion, job done".

B1 Sprechen (Speaking) — 100 points, ~15 minutes with a partner

Preparation time: 15 minutes. You prepare alone and may take notes. In the exam you are expected to speak freely, not read from your notes.

Scoring:

In Teil 2, Erfüllung depends directly on how many slides you covered:

Which means going deep on one slide and skipping the rest scores lower than covering all of them briefly but completely. Touch on all five.

On pronunciation: at B1, Aussprache is not judged per section but as one single score for the whole exam, worth 16 of the 100 points. Sub-dimensions: sentence melody, word stress, individual sounds.

Three Rules That Apply at Every Level

1. Every section has an unscored example

Every single Teil at A1, A2 and B1 contains an unnumbered Beispiel (0). It comes already solved, carries no points, but does count against your time. Its purpose is to demonstrate the logic of the section — don't skip it, especially in the matching sections where the example is what tells you the rule.

2. In matching sections, one option is "none of these"

Marked "X" in A2 Lesen Teil 4 and "0" in B1 Lesen Teil 3. This is a deliberate trap: it breaks the strategy of assigning whatever option is left to whatever item is left.

3. Dictionaries and phones are forbidden

In every section. The Kandidatenblätter state it plainly: "Hilfsmittel wie z. B. Wörterbücher oder Mobiltelefone sind nicht erlaubt."

Frequently Asked Questions

How Should You Prepare? — What the Scoring Tells You

Once you've read the tables above, the preparation strategy writes itself:

1. Aim at the right target. At B1 the goal is not 30/30 but securing 18/30. Collect safe points from whichever sections you are strongest in.

2. In writing, finish first and polish second. The word-count threshold outranks quality. Build your time management around "complete every task".

3. Count your content points (Leitpunkte) as you write. At A1 and A2 most of the score comes from them. When you finish, go back and check: did I address all three?

4. In the B1 presentation, touch on all five slides. The Erfüllung grade is tied directly to how many you covered. Coverage scores, not depth.

5. Train specifically for the single-play sections. At A2 and B1, Teil 2 and Teil 3 are both the longest and the ones played only once. Note-taking technique is critical there.

6. If you're preparing for A2, don't neglect speaking. Because of the double threshold, scoring below 15 in the oral section invalidates everything else.

The DTZ differs from every other German exam on one fundamental point: you do not choose a level when you register. You sit a single exam, and the exam decides whether your result is A2 or B1. There is no such thing as "registering for B1" — you either reach B1 or you don't.

The DTZ is the final exam of the German integration course (Integrationskurs). Developed jointly by the Goethe-Institut and telc, it measures the whole range between A2 and B1 on a single scale. It is the exam most commonly required for residence permits, naturalisation and course completion.

This guide is based on the official Übungssatz 1 and 2 papers and the DTZ Prüfungshandbuch (Prüfungsziele / Testbeschreibung). Every table comes from an official source; no guesswork.

Exam Structure

There is no preparation time in Sprechen. The 15 minutes of note-taking from Goethe B1 has no equivalent in the DTZ; you take the task and start speaking. The exam is normally taken in pairs (individually if needed). Two examiners are present: one conducts the conversation, the other assesses.

20 ITEMS · 20 POINTS

DTZ Hören (Listening) — 20 items, ~25 minutes

Before each Teil you are given time to read the items, and that time is part of the recording. This short window matters more in the DTZ than in Goethe: since the text will not come again, reading the items in advance is your only edge.

25 ITEMS · 25 POINTS

DTZ Lesen (Reading) — 25 items, 45 minutes

Don't confuse Teil 1 with Teil 2. Both look like "matching" but follow different logic: in Teil 1 you pick one of three fixed categories for each item (the options don't get used up and may repeat); in Teil 2 you draw from a shared pool of eight ads, and each ad may be used only once.

20 POINTS

DTZ Schreiben (Writing) — 20 points, 30 minutes

You write one single task. Two prompts are offered and you choose one — both are a semi-formal or formal letter or email, each with 4 Leitpunkte (content points).

Four criteria, 5 points each

How the content grade is built — the official ladder

This table explains DTZ writing in full. The measure has two steps: a Leitpunkt is either handled "angemessen" (completely; the reader has nothing to fill in) or only "mit Kooperation" (mentioned, but the reader has to do the work).

Assessment: two trained raters mark the text independently; the result is the arithmetic mean of the two.

Level thresholds: out of 20 points, 15 and above → B1, 7–14 → A2, 6 and below → below A2.

100 POINTS

DTZ Sprechen (Speaking) — 100 points, ~16 minutes

There is no preparation time. The exam is usually taken in pairs. Two examiners are present: one conducts the conversation, the other assesses — and both score independently, with the result being the mean.

Scoring runs on two axes

In DTZ speaking, half the points go to what you say and half to how you say it:

The four criteria on the language axis and their weights:

This distribution says something clear: Korrektheit and Wortschatz carry one and a half times the weight of pronunciation. Even with an audible accent, correct forms and varied vocabulary earn more points. Working on pronunciation pays off less than working on grammar.

One note: Teil 3 expects interaction — asking, reacting to suggestions, reaching agreement. If your partner goes quiet, that is not held against you; on the contrary, carrying the conversation counts in your favour. Making room for your partner without turning it into a monologue is the real skill in Teil 3.

Scoring and the Certificate Rule

This is the heart of the DTZ. Each section is converted on its own into a level (B1 / A2 / below A2), and those three levels are then combined into one overall result.

Step 1 — Each section becomes a level

Half points appear in Sprechen because the mean of two independent assessments is taken.

Step 2 — Three levels become one result

The rule in one sentence: speaking sets the level, the written side confirms it. On the written side it is enough for one of the two legs to hold the level; in speaking there is no leeway.

What does the certificate show? It states both the overall result (A2 or B1) and the level of each individual section. So "I got B1" does not mean every section was B1; the certificate shows the detail.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Should You Prepare? — What the Scoring Tells You

The DTZ's scoring logic orders your priorities noticeably differently from Goethe:

1. Put speaking first. 100 of the 200 total points sit in Sprechen, and that is where the certificate's level is decided. A perfect written score will not produce B1 if speaking fails to reach 75. Most candidates do exactly the opposite.

2. Set the target at "33 out of 45". Because Hören and Lesen are counted together, you can afford 12 wrong answers. Collect safe points wherever you are stronger — a weak listening score can be closed through reading.

3. Train your note-taking. Every text is played once. That makes one technical skill essential: while listening, mark the answer rather than the question, and drop a missed item immediately so you don't lose the next one too.

4. Count the four Leitpunkte as you write. There is no word-count threshold, but the content ladder wants all four. When you finish, go back and count them off: one, two, three, four.

5. Divide the 75 minutes in advance. Lesen and Schreiben are one block. Without watching the clock, writing ends up with 10 minutes. Set yourself a limit: reading stops at minute 45, finished or not.

6. Practise Lesen Teil 5 specifically. The exam's only grammar slot, 6 points, and a limited set of topics: prepositions, connectors, verb forms, adjective endings. No section returns more per hour of study.

7. In speaking, invest in grammar rather than pronunciation. Of the 50 points on the language axis, Korrektheit and Wortschatz are worth 15 each, Aussprache and Flüssigkeit 10 each. Rather than worrying about an audible accent, strengthening your forms and widening your vocabulary earns more.