ÖSD B1 Exam: Free Modelltest PDF with Answer Key
The ÖSD publishes one official Modellsatz per level, free, with audio and an answer key. If you are preparing seriously, you have already worked through it — probably in a single evening — and you are now looking for a second one.
That is what this is. A complete B1 mock exam in the official format, written from scratch: all four modules, the Hören audio, the answer key, worked model answers, and an explanation of what every wrong option is doing there. Fifty-nine pages, free.
What is in the 59 pages
The document is in two halves. Part 1 is the exam itself, in the official order, with nothing that reveals an answer — you can sit it exactly as you would on the day. Part 2 is the Lösungen: the key, the model answers, and the reasoning behind every distractor.
Modul Lesen — 65 minutes, 30 items across five Teile: a blog post (Richtig/Falsch), two press texts (multiple choice), ten small ads to match against seven situations, seven reader comments to sort Ja/Nein, and a set of library regulations. Every item is explained afterwards, including why the two leftover ads are leftovers.
Modul Hören — 40 minutes, 30 items across four Teile, with the recording as one continuous file. The spoken instructions, the reading time, the repetitions and the answering pauses are built in: Teil 1 and Teil 4 play twice, Teil 2 and Teil 3 once. Press play and do not stop it. Full transcripts are in Part 2, to be read after you have answered and never before.
Modul Schreiben — 60 minutes, three tasks: a private email of about 80 words, an opinion post of about 80 words, and a formal email of about 40. Each one comes with a model answer graded A across the four criteria, and the same task written badly, with the marks it would actually receive and why. Seeing 12 out of 40 explained is more useful than seeing 40 out of 40.
Modul Sprechen — roughly 15 minutes as a paired exam: planning something together, presenting a topic, then giving feedback and asking a question. Model performances for all three parts, again paired with a weak version, plus the five pronunciation faults that cost points at B1.
Each module has its own conversion table, so you can score yourself and know whether you passed.
The rule that decides most fails
Every module is scored out of 100 and you pass at 60. In Schreiben and Sprechen, four criteria are rated A to E: Erfüllung, Kohärenz, Wortschatz, Strukturen.
If Erfüllung is rated E, the task scores zero — however good the German is.
Erfüllung covers two things: whether you addressed every content point, and whether the register and text type are right. A well-written email that forgets the third bullet collapses. So does a formal request answered with Hallo and du. In the Modelltest, the deliberately weak Teil 3 answer loses a fifth of the whole module in four sentences, for exactly this reason.
The practical consequence takes ten seconds: before writing or speaking, underline every content point in the task. Then, when you have finished, ask of each one — could a reader who has never seen the task tell that I answered this? If not, it is not fulfilled, whatever you meant to write.
Which ÖSD B1 exam are you sitting?
This matters more than it sounds, and it is where most preparation goes wrong.
ÖSD Zertifikat B1 (ZB1) was developed jointly by the ÖSD, the Goethe-Institut and the University of Fribourg. It is the same paper as the Goethe-Zertifikat B1, and it can be sat at either institution’s centres. Four modules, taken and certified separately or together. This is the exam most candidates mean, and it is the one the Modelltest above reproduces.
ÖSD Zertifikat Deutsch Österreich B1 (ZDÖ B1) is a different exam, aimed at immigrants to Austria, built around two modules rather than four, with all texts and situations anchored in Austrian daily life.
Check your registration confirmation before you prepare. The task types differ, and a strategy built for one will cost you marks in the other. Registration details, exam centres and the current handbook are on the ÖSD site — worth checking before you book, since timing details shift between exam years.
The format, in one pass
For the ZB1, the joint exam:
| Modul | Time | Items / tasks | Pass |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lesen | 65 min | 30 items, 5 Teile | 60/100 |
| Hören | 40 min | 30 items, 4 Teile | 60/100 |
| Schreiben | 60 min | 3 texts (80 / 80 / 40 words) | 60/100 |
| Sprechen | ~15 min, paired | 3 tasks + preparation time | 60/100 |
Two details that surprise first-timers. Sprechen is paired — you are assessed alongside another candidate, and 44 of the 100 points measure how you react to that person, which no amount of solo practice reaches. And in Hören, Teil 2 and Teil 3 play once only: candidates who are still reading the question while the audio runs lose the answer outright. Use the reading time to understand the questions, not to translate them.
If you are comparing providers, the Goethe B1 exam is the same paper under a different name, while telc’s B1 uses a similar paired speaking format with different task types.
What a PDF cannot do
Three things, and they are worth naming plainly.
It cannot grade your writing. A model answer shows you what good looks like; it cannot tell you whether your text fulfilled the third content point — and you are the last person able to spot that in your own writing.
It cannot give you a partner. Sprechen Teil 1 and Teil 3 are 44 of 100 points, and both assess how you respond to another person.
It cannot hear you. Aussprache is worth 16 points, as much as the whole of Teil 3, and it accumulates from your first word to your last.
Papagei does those three: your writing graded against the four official criteria with the missing bullet named, speaking partners at your level, and word-by-word pronunciation scoring. Free to start, and the diagnostic gives you a Readiness Score across all four modules in about five minutes — so you know where to spend your remaining study time before exam day rather than during it.
Two ways to use the Modelltest, and they are not equal
Under exam conditions. Print Part 1, set a timer per module, no dictionary, no phone, and do not open Part 2 until every module is finished. This is the only way to find out whether your problem is language or time management — and at this level it is usually time management.
As a study document. Work one Teil at a time and read its explanation immediately. Slower, but it is how you learn what the distractors are doing. Best several weeks out, on first contact with the format.
More on the German Exams
Keep preparing with these guides:
- telc B1 German Exam: Format, Scoring & How to Prepare
- telc B1 Schreiben Beispiel: A Full Sample Letter Explained
- telc B2 German: Format, Scoring + 85 Worked Topics
- ECL German Exam: Format, Sections + 167 Worked Topics
- German B1 Listening Practice: A Realistic Exam Strategy
- B1 Sprechen Teil 1: planning together
- B1 Sprechen Teil 2 and 3: presenting a topic
ÖSD / Goethe B1 — full mock exam
A complete practice exam in the official format: Lesen, Hören, Schreiben and Sprechen, with the audio, the answer key, worked model answers and an explanation of every wrong option.
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