ÖSD Zertifikat B2 exam and online mock test

1. 1. e (dreimonatige) — The line ends with 'eine dreimonatig…' and the next one starts with 'Testphase': what is missing is the ending of the adjective describing that noun. 'die Testphase' is feminine and the subject of the sentence (verb: 'läuft'), so it is nominative. After the indefinite article, an adjective with a feminine noun in the nominative singular takes -e: eine dreimonatige Testphase. '-en' (eine dreimonatigen) is impossible; with a feminine noun that ending belongs to the dative or genitive. With a gap at the end of a line the noun is often at the start of the next line, so read it to work out gender and case.
2. 2. en (seinen) — The line 'braucht nur sein…' is followed by 'Bibliotheksausweis'. 'brauchen' takes an accusative object, and in a compound noun the last part decides the gender: der Ausweis, so der Bibliotheksausweis is masculine. Possessives take the same endings as the indefinite article: einen → seinen. 'seine' would be feminine or plural, 'seinem' dative. Knowing which case a verb takes (brauchen, haben, kaufen + accusative; helfen, gehören + dative) helps a lot in this task.
3. 3. ung (Verlängerung) — 'Die Verlänger…' is followed by 'der Öffnungszeiten' (genitive) and the singular verb 'kostet', so you need a singular noun that takes 'die'. The noun from 'verlängern' is formed with '-ung': die Verlängerung; nouns ending in '-ung' are always feminine, which matches 'die'. 'Verlängerer' (an extension cable) is masculine ('der') and makes no sense here. Nouns formed from verbs (öffnen → Öffnung, anmelden → Anmeldung) come up often in this task; once you recognise the stem, work out the suffix.
4. 4. er (größer) — Read 'deutlich größ…' together with 'als erwartet' on the next line and the comparison is clear: 'als' signals the comparative, and 'deutlich' strengthens it: deutlich größer als erwartet. The superlative (am größten) is never used with 'als'. 'groß' takes an umlaut in the comparative (groß → größer), and the stem 'größ' in the text confirms it. Rule of thumb: 'als' after the gap calls for a comparative, 'wie' for equality (so groß wie).
5. 5. in (Leiterin) — 'berichtet die Leiter…' is followed by 'der Bibliothek, Petra Moser', a woman's name. 'der Leiter' is masculine; the feminine article 'die' and a woman's name call for the feminine form: die Leiterin. The plural 'die Leiter' is impossible because the verb is singular: 'berichtet' (the plural would be 'berichten'). Article, verb form and the name that follows together show gender and number, so check them all, not just one.

In the real exam the reading section has four tasks and 40 items in 90 minutes, and you may do the tasks in any order. Teil 3 is specific to ÖSD: in a single article, the end of a word is cut off at the end of each of 20 lines, and the missing part is one to three letters long. Your number of correct answers is converted with a table: 18–20 correct give 5 points, 15–17 give 4, 11–14 give 3, 7–10 give 2 and 4–6 give 1. Any completion that fits the meaning and the grammar is accepted; spelling slips that do not change the meaning, such as capitalisation or a doubled consonant, are tolerated, but mixing up a/ä, o/ö or u/ü counts as wrong. Reading is marked out of 20, and you need at least 10 of them to pass the written module. For each gap, first work out the word class (adjective, verb, noun) and its role in the sentence; case, gender, number and tense can usually be read from the word before or after. This sample has five gaps; Level Exams' full mock exams have all 20 lines and the real 90-minute clock.

1. 1. Falsch — The reporter sums up the change in two sentences: 'Dafür sind die Arbeitstage länger geworden, nämlich neuneinhalb statt acht Stunden. Am Lohn hat sich dagegen nichts geändert.' The days are longer, but the pay is the same. The trap is common sense: it is easy to assume that working one day less means earning less. 'dagegen' (on the other hand) sets up a contrast: the previous sentence names something that changed, this one something that did not. Decide on the basis of the recording, not your own assumptions.
2. 2. Richtig — Herr Brandstätter opens with a negation: 'keine Idee aus Überzeugung'. Stopping there and answering 'Falsch' would be a mistake, because he states the reason straight afterwards: 'Eingeführt haben wir sie, weil wir zwei Jahre lang keinen einzigen Lehrling gefunden haben. Wir wollten für junge Leute endlich wieder interessant werden.' The purpose clause in the statement ('um … zu') rephrases the reason clause in the recording ('weil'). Listen to a speaker's whole answer; the first sentence is often just a lead-in.
3. 3. Richtig — Frau Wimmer: 'Den freien Freitag nutze ich jetzt für Arzttermine und Behördenwege. Dafür musste ich früher jedes Mal einen Urlaubstag nehmen, heute nicht mehr.' 'Behördenwege' (errands to public offices) is a common Austrian word, rendered in the statement as 'Termine bei Ämtern'. The trap is that she was sceptical at first and exhausted in the first weeks, and that negative impression can make the statement sound false too. But the statement is about days off, not about tiredness. ÖSD covers German, Austrian and Swiss German, so be ready for regional words like this.
4. 4. Falsch — The topic is in the recording, but as a worry: 'Dass Kunden uns am Freitag nicht erreichen, war am Anfang meine größte Sorge.' What actually happened is different: 'Beschwerden hat es bisher aber kaum gegeben', because all messages are answered first thing on Monday morning. 'kaum' (hardly any) contradicts 'viele' in the statement. This is a common pattern in this part: a speaker describes a fear, an expectation or a plan and then says what really happened. After words like 'Sorge', 'befürchten' or 'eigentlich', pay special attention to the sentence with 'aber'.
5. 5. Falsch — Two pieces of the statement are right: the decision is in spring and it is about whether the model stays. But the decision maker is wrong: 'Ob die Vier-Tage-Woche bleibt, darüber stimmt im Frühjahr die ganze Belegschaft ab, und zwar geheim.' 'Belegschaft' means all the employees of a company; Herr Brandstätter only promises to accept the result. If any part of the statement is wrong, the answer is 'Falsch': even when the time and the topic match, check who does what.

In the real exam Teil 1 is a radio programme in four parts: you read ten statements and mark each one Richtig or Falsch, for 1 point per correct answer. The recording is played twice, you have 90 seconds to read the statements before it starts, and the statements follow the course of the programme. Watch out: if you mark every statement Richtig, or every statement Falsch, the whole task scores 0. In Teil 2 you fill in a 30-cell table comparing three organisations from a conversation between two people; that recording is played only once. Listening takes about 30 minutes and is marked out of 20, and you need at least 10 of them to pass the written module. On the first listening mark what you are sure of; use the second to check the details (who, when, how much). In Level Exams' full mock exams the audio cannot be paused and plays the set number of times, as in the real exam; the player on this page can be replayed freely.

In the real exam the writing section has two tasks in 90 minutes altogether: this complaint e-mail (Aufgabe 1) and an opinion piece in which you choose variant A or B (Aufgabe 2); both are about 120 words and worth 15 points each. Aufgabe 1 gives you an advertisement with notes written on it: you must deal with every note, but the instructions ask for your own wording, not the notes copied word for word. On ÖSD's official rating sheet, communicative appropriateness and text type (greeting, closing, formal register) are worth 3 points, text structure 2, vocabulary and expression 5 and formal accuracy 5; on top of that, up to 3 points are deducted for notes that are missing or covered only superficially. If the task cannot be assessed, or if any of those four criteria scores 0, the whole task scores 0. Writing has no minimum of its own; its points count towards the written module (at least 42 of 70). The model text has 129 words, not counting the subject line. It covers all four notes in order and in its own words ('Rest Theorie' → 'die übrige Zeit saßen wir im Seminarraum', 'gestrichen' → 'abgesagt'), compares them with the promises in the advertisement and uses B2 structures such as 'sodass', 'Hinzu kommt, dass' and the passive ('wurde … abgesagt'). On Level Exams your text is scored by AI against these criteria.

• Den Standpunkt von Person 1 vertreten „Ich bin ganz klar dafür, dass Museen keinen Eintritt mehr verlangen. Kultur darf keine Frage des Geldbeutels sein. Außerdem zahlen wir alle über unsere Steuern schon jetzt den größten Teil der Kosten.“ — State your role's position clearly in the first sentence. It does not have to be your own opinion, but you are expected to defend it convincingly. Put the card's sentences into your own words instead of reading them out ('Kultur darf keine Frage des Geldbeutels sein'). Useful phrases: 'Ich bin ganz klar dafür, dass …', 'Meiner Ansicht nach …', 'Für mich steht fest, dass …'.
• Ein neues Argument einbringen „Ein Punkt ist bisher noch gar nicht zur Sprache gekommen. Bei freiem Eintritt geht man auch spontan hinein, zum Beispiel für eine halbe Stunde in der Mittagspause. So wird das Museum ein Teil des Alltags.“ — The instructions ask for 'weitere Aspekte und Argumente'; repeating the two arguments on the card is not enough. Bring in a new angle that is not on the card and back it up with a concrete example (half an hour in the lunch break). Phrases for moving to a new point: 'Ein Punkt ist bisher noch gar nicht zur Sprache gekommen', 'Hinzu kommt, dass …', 'Man sollte auch bedenken, dass …'.
• Auf einen Einwand reagieren „Sie haben recht, Ermäßigungen gibt es schon heute. Aber dafür muss man an der Kasse einen Ausweis vorzeigen, und das ist vielen Menschen einfach unangenehm.“ — Don't ignore your partner's objection: the communicative goal includes reacting appropriately to objections. The most convincing way is to concede a point first and then disagree: 'Sie haben recht, … Aber …', 'Zwar …, aber …', 'Das mag sein, trotzdem …'. Here Person 2's argument about 'Ermäßigungen' is accepted but weakened with a practical problem.
• Nachfragen und das Gegenargument prüfen „Sie meinen, was nichts kostet, sei auch nichts wert. Wie erklären Sie sich dann, dass öffentliche Bibliotheken so gut besucht sind, obwohl die Ausleihe kaum etwas kostet?“ — Reporting what the other side said and asking about it keeps the discussion going and shows you are not just taking turns. Konjunktiv I ('sei') in reported speech is a strong B2 structure, though 'Sie meinen, dass … ist' is correct too. Aim your question at the weak point of the counter-argument: here the idea that free things have no value is tested against libraries.
• Einen Kompromiss vorschlagen und abschließen „Vielleicht können wir uns auf einen Mittelweg einigen: Die ständige Sammlung ist für alle gratis, und nur für große Sonderausstellungen zahlt man Eintritt. Damit wäre beiden Seiten geholfen.“ — Bringing the discussion to a conclusion is a good way to finish, but don't give up your role entirely: this compromise keeps Person 1's core idea (the permanent collection free for everyone). Konjunktiv II ('wäre') makes the proposal polite and soft. Phrases: 'Vielleicht können wir uns darauf einigen, dass …', 'Wie wäre es, wenn …?'.

In the real exam the speaking module starts with 15 minutes of preparation, during which you may take notes; then come three tasks in about 15 minutes: a conversation with someone you meet on a train about your journey and a topic, exchanging advice (Aufgabe 1), choosing one of three photos to describe and interpret (Aufgabe 2), and the exchange of views shown here (Aufgabe 3). The short warm-up at the start is not scored. In Aufgabe 3 you are given a role; you defend that position even if it is not your own, add new arguments and react to your partner's objections. Marking: the communicative goal (Kommunikationsziel) is worth up to 3 points per task; expression (Ausdruck), intelligibility and pronunciation, and grammatical accuracy are each marked once for all three tasks, up to 7 points each. The oral module is worth 30 points and is passed on its own with at least 18. A candidate who scores 0 on any of those three general criteria fails the oral exam. On Level Exams an AI partner plays the other side (Person 2) and your speech is scored against these official criteria; the pronunciation score is an AI estimate.