The DTZ explained: format, A2/B1 scoring and what it means for your residence permit

For hundreds of thousands of people the DTZ is the most consequential German exam there is: the result goes into a file at the Ausländerbehörde. It is also the most misunderstood, because it does not work like the other exams. There is no pass and no fail. There is A2, and there is B1.

What "scaled" means in practice

Everyone sits the same paper. Afterwards, your performance is placed on a scale, and the certificate records - separately for the written part and for the oral part - whether you reached A2 or B1. That has three consequences worth internalising:

• You can end up with B1 oral and A2 written, or the other way round. Offices that ask for "B1" usually mean both.
• Playing safe does not help. Deliberately simple German lands you at A2 even when everything is correct.
• Ambition is rewarded. Attempting a subordinate clause, a polite Konjunktiv II request, an opinion with a reason - those are the markers that push a performance from A2 to B1.

The format, part by part

Hören - approx. 25 minutes

Answerphone messages, public announcements, everyday conversations, short radio items. All of it practical: appointments, delays, opening hours, workplace instructions. Numbers, times and dates carry a disproportionate number of marks.

Lesen - approx. 45 minutes

Small ads, timetables, workplace notices, letters from authorities, short articles. This is where DTZ vocabulary lives: Kündigung, Mahnung, Nebenkosten, Krankmeldung, Termin vereinbaren, Elternabend. Every one of those words you recognise instantly is thirty seconds you get back.

Schreiben - 30 minutes

One semi-formal letter, chosen from two options: a complaint, a request, an apology, or a reply to an official letter. You are given content points and you must cover all of them.

Sprechen - approx. 16 minutes, in pairs

• Teil 1: talk about yourself - where you come from, your family, your work, your day.
• Teil 2: describe a picture and then discuss the topic from your own experience.
• Teil 3: plan something together with your partner - a party, an outing, a schedule.

The letter is a formula. Learn the formula.

DTZ writing tasks recycle a small number of situations, so build one structure and slot content into it:

1. Anrede: Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren, (or the name, if you have it).
2. Reason for writing: ich schreibe Ihnen, weil …
3. The given points, in order, one short paragraph each. Tick them off as you go.
4. A polite request with Konjunktiv II: Könnten Sie mir bitte mitteilen, … / Ich würde mich freuen, wenn …
5. Closing: Mit freundlichen Grüßen and your name.

Two habits protect your score more than any vocabulary list: number the content points in the margin before you start, and leave three minutes at the end to check verb position, capitalised nouns and the closing formula.

Speaking: where B1 is won

The oral exam is worth as much as everything else in most people's outcome, and it is the part you can rehearse most cheaply. Three things separate a B1 performance from an A2 one:

• Reasons. Never a bare statement. Ich fahre mit dem Bus, weil das Auto zu teuer ist.
• Reaction. In Teil 3 you must respond to your partner: agree, object gently, propose an alternative. Learn five phrases for each.
• Length. In Teil 2, say what you see, what is happening, what it reminds you of in your own life, and what you think about it. Four moves, roughly two minutes, and the marker has everything they need.

Practise out loud daily, even alone. In PassDeutsch the speaking module records your answer to real exam prompts and returns a score per part plus feedback on what a stronger answer would have covered - which is exactly the correction loop that is otherwise impossible to run by yourself.

If you only reach A2

It is not a disaster and it is not a fail. Integration course participants can usually repeat the exam once, often with additional funded course hours. Ask your provider immediately - the repeat is time-limited. And be strategic: you now know exactly which of the two parts fell short, so the second attempt should not be a general revision but a targeted one.

Before you book

Sit two complete DTZ model tests under exam conditions, with the writing marked and the speaking recorded. If both land clearly in the B1 band, book. If the written part is borderline, spend two more weeks on reading speed and the letter formula - those are the fastest points available in this exam.