telc B2 Schreiben: complaint or request for information, 150 words, marking and a sample letter

Schriftlicher Ausdruck is the writing task of telc Deutsch B2, and it closes the written part of the exam. You choose the task yourself and write a semi-formal e-mail; in telc's own materials it is a complaint or a request for information. Writing has no pass mark of its own: its points are added to reading, Sprachbausteine and listening, so a weak letter can be made up elsewhere. You can prepare on your own, since telc publishes a practice test and a booklet of real candidates' letters with their marks.¹

telc B2 writing task and timing

You get 30 minutes for the letter, straight after the listening section. Before you start, you copy the number of your writing task onto page 5 of answer sheet S30. If the number is missing or wrong, your writing is not marked and scores zero.¹

Choosing between task A and task B comes out of the same 30 minutes. telc's booklet «Tipps zur Prüfungsvorbereitung» names the two kinds of letter as a request for information and a complaint, and advises skimming both tasks and deciding quickly: there is not enough time to read both carefully.²

You choose one of two tasks. You are replying to a short text, an advert in the practice test. Under it are four Leitpunkte (content points). You cover three of them, or two plus one point of your own. The task asks for a sensible order of points, a subject line, a greeting, an opening and a closing, and at least 150 words. Sender address and date, as in a paper letter, are not needed, and dictionaries are not allowed.¹

At B1 the telc letter is simpler: four points, all of them required, and no word count, as described in telc B1 Schreiben. Goethe B2 asks for two texts and the module has its own pass mark, see Goethe B2 Schreiben.

How much the letter counts in the telc B2 written part

The letter is worth up to 45 of the 225 points in the written part. You pass the exam with at least 135 points in the written part and 45 of 75 in the oral part. These rules set no separate minimum for writing.¹

Say you score 55 in reading, 21 in Sprachbausteine, 50 in listening and only 12 for the letter. That is 138, and the written part is passed. It works the other way too: a perfect 45 for the letter does not help if the other three sections add up to less than 90.

If you do fail the written part, you retake all of it; the letter cannot be retaken on its own. You have twelve months from the date on the result sheet, and you tell the centre when you register that your passed oral part should be credited. The whole exam, with the oral part and retakes, is covered in telc Deutsch B2.³

How telc B2 letters are marked

Each letter is marked on three criteria, each graded A, B, C or D. The grades are worth 5, 3, 1 and 0 points, and the sum is multiplied by three, which gives the maximum of 45.¹

• Aufgabenbewältigung (task completion). A for three points covered, or two plus a point of your own that fits the situation; B for two, C for one, D for none. A point only counts if it gets more than a single complex sentence.¹
• Kommunikative Gestaltung (organisation and range): text logic, linking words, register, vocabulary. No A if the subject line, greeting and closing formula are missing and the vocabulary is not fully adequate. No B if the register is wrong or wobbles, the vocabulary is below B2, or the points are simply listed with no logical links.
• Formale Richtigkeit (accuracy): grammar, spelling, punctuation. A D here does not stop you getting A, B or C on the other two.

Points that are only touched on do not count. The «Tipps» booklet includes a complaint in which two of the four points are merely mentioned, and only the other two were credited.²

The topic matters most. A text with little or no connection to the task gets D on all three criteria, which is zero. A text on the right topic but in the wrong situation loses only task completion. telc's own example: you are asked to request information about an internship. Complaining about the company's products misses the topic; sending a job application misses the situation.¹

telc does not say how many points you lose below 150 words. The first sample letter in the «Tipps» booklet runs to 142 words from greeting to sign-off and gets A for task completion and B on the other two criteria, 33 points in all. The required length is still worth hitting: three points with several sentences each get you there anyway.²

Two licensed telc raters mark every letter. If they disagree, the second rating stands.¹

telc B2 Schreiben example: a complaint about an online order

We wrote this task ourselves; it does not appear in telc's official materials.

Sie haben in einem Online-Möbelhaus einen Schreibtisch bestellt. Laut Website sollte er innerhalb von fünf Tagen ankommen, doch die Lieferung war spät und fehlerhaft. Schreiben Sie eine Beschwerde an den Shop.

Behandeln Sie darin entweder drei der folgenden Punkte oder zwei Punkte und einen weiteren Aspekt Ihrer Wahl.

• Beschreiben Sie, was geliefert wurde und was daran nicht stimmt.
• Erklären Sie, welche Nachteile Ihnen dadurch entstanden sind.
• Fragen Sie, wie eine Rücksendung abläuft.
• Bewerten Sie den Kundenservice, den Sie am Telefon erlebt haben.

The answer, 160 words including the subject line and signature:

Betreff: Beschwerde über meine Bestellung eines Schreibtischs

Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren,

leider muss ich mich über meine letzte Bestellung bei Ihnen beschweren. Obwohl ich mit Ihrem Online-Shop bisher gute Erfahrungen gemacht hatte, bin ich diesmal sehr enttäuscht.

Vor drei Wochen habe ich bei Ihnen einen Schreibtisch aus Eiche bestellt, der laut Ihrer Website innerhalb von fünf Tagen geliefert werden sollte. Gekommen ist er erst nach zwölf Tagen, und die Tischplatte hatte einen tiefen Kratzer. Zudem fehlten im Paket mehrere Schrauben.

Für mich war das besonders ärgerlich, weil ich im Homeoffice arbeite. Zwei Wochen lang musste ich am Küchentisch sitzen, und für die Lieferung habe ich mir sogar einen Tag freigenommen.

Nun möchte ich den Schreibtisch zurückschicken. Könnten Sie mir bitte mitteilen, wie die Rücksendung abläuft und ob Sie die Abholung organisieren? Außerdem erwarte ich, dass Sie mir die Versandkosten erstatten.

Ich hoffe auf eine schnelle Lösung und erwarte Ihre Antwort bis Ende nächster Woche.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen
Elena Moroz

The first paragraph states the reason for writing and notes that the writer used to be a happy customer. The second covers point 1: what was ordered, the late delivery, the scratched desktop and the missing screws. The third covers point 2, the cost to the writer: working from home at the kitchen table and a day taken off for the delivery. The fourth asks how the return works, which is point 3, and adds a demand for the shipping costs. Point 4, the phone service, is left out on purpose, since three points are enough. The letter closes with a deadline, and «obwohl», «zudem», «weil» and «außerdem» link the points.

What would cost points in this letter:

1. One sentence per point. Such points are not credited, and if only one is left, task completion gets C: 3 points instead of 15 after multiplying.¹
2. Telling the story without asking about the return. Only two points remain, and task completion drops to B.
3. No subject line or closing formula, plus fairly plain vocabulary. The top grade for organisation is then out of reach.
4. A cancellation of the order instead of a complaint. Same topic, wrong situation: D for task completion, though the language is still marked.

Redemittel for complaints and information requests in telc B2

We put these phrases together ourselves. Learn them as building blocks rather than whole paragraphs: the «Tipps» booklet says that passages learned by heart in advance do not help in the exam.²

How to practise telc B2 writing

telc offers Übungstest 1, with both writing tasks and the marking criteria, as a free download. It comes with the «Tipps» booklet: nine candidate letters on this test's tasks, each with sample marks on the three criteria and a rater's comment.^2·4

1. Write one task from the practice test in 30 minutes, including the time to choose.
2. Check it against the criteria: three points covered, each with more than one sentence, subject line, greeting and sign-off present, points linked to each other.
3. Find the sample letter in the «Tipps» on the same task that shares your weaknesses. Its comment shows what loses points.
4. Next time switch letter type: after a complaint, write a request for information.

There is no time for a draft and a fair copy. The booklet suggests jotting the outline in key words and writing the final text straight away. Crossing out and adding words between the lines are allowed as long as the corrections are clear.²

Источники

· 4 проверены 08.11.2026

1. 1telc Deutsch B2: Übungstest 1, telc gGmbH
2. 2telc Deutsch B2: Tipps zur Prüfungsvorbereitung, telc gGmbH
3. 3telc Prüfungsregularien, telc gGmbH · от 15.04.2025
4. 4telc Deutsch B2, telc gGmbH