The Beschwerdebrief, the letter of complaint, is the most common task in telc B2 writing, and it is marked against three criteria: Aufgabenbewältigung, Kommunikative Gestaltung, Formale Richtigkeit. What passes or sinks a letter is rarely the grammar. It is whether you hit the occasion, cover the Leitpunkte and stay in the semi-formal register. Below is a complete example letter, annotated the way I would read it as an examiner.
By Ela Zakrzewska, telc B2 examiner for over 20 years. Hundreds of letters marked against the official criteria.
There are hundreds of model letters online. Almost all of them show you what the finished letter looks like. Almost none show you what the examiner is thinking while reading, and that is the part that decides your 45 points.
So this page works the other way round. First the task as it appears in the exam. Then a complete letter. Then the same letter again, paragraph by paragraph, with annotations from the examiner's side of the table: what earns points, what earns none, and where a single sentence can save or sink the whole letter.
One note before we start: the task and the letter stay in German, because that is what you will read and write on exam day. The annotations are in English.
What does the complaint-letter task look like in telc B2?
In the writing part you get two tasks to choose from and complete one: usually a complaint or a request for information. You write a semi-formal e-mail of at least 150 words in 30 minutes.
The task has two parts, and under time pressure the first one is the one most often skipped:
The context. One or two sentences above the task box: who you are, what happened, why you are writing. The occasion comes from here, and the occasion determines the text type.
The Leitpunkte. Usually four bullet points, of which you must cover at least three, or two plus one content point of your own.
A typical task looks like this:
(You booked and prepaid a four-week intensive course at an online language institute. The course did not match the description on the website. Write to the institute, covering: your reason for writing, two examples of what was wrong, a reference to the course description, and what you expect.)
Everything that follows hangs on this task.
The example letter
Here is an answer that would pass. Read it once in full before you go to the annotations.
About 190 words, comfortably in range. Now we read it the way it gets read.
The same letter from the examiner's side
Subject line and salutation
Betreff: Beschwerde über den Intensivkurs ... (Buchungsnummer 4711)
What I see here: One line carries the text type, the subject matter and a reference number. Before the first sentence begins, it is clear the writer understood what kind of text this is going to be. The word "Beschwerde" in the subject line is not compulsory, but it signals text-type certainty, and that is the first thing I check under Kriterium I.
A missing subject line does not sink the letter on its own. But the formal features of a semi-formal e-mail, subject line, salutation, sign-off, belong to Kommunikative Gestaltung, and without them the A in Kriterium II is out of reach.
Paragraph 1: the occasion
vom 13. Juli bis zum 7. August habe ich an Ihrem Online-Intensivkurs teilgenommen ...
What I see here: Who is writing, about what, and why now, in two sentences. Dates, course name, how it was booked. That settles the first Leitpunkt, the reason for writing, before the actual complaint begins.
This is where weak letters fail, and not linguistically. A writer who opens with "Ich bin sehr unzufrieden!" without saying what any of it refers to forces me to read the rest of the letter in fog. The context from the task has to reappear in your first paragraph, in your own words.
Paragraph 2: the two examples
höchstens acht Teilnehmenden beworben ... jedoch vierzehn Personen ... fiel der Unterricht dreimal ersatzlos aus ...
What I see here: Two concrete, checkable points, cleanly separated, joined with "Darüber hinaus". The Leitpunkt demanded two examples, and I can tick both without hunting for them.
That is how an examiner works: with the task sheet next to your letter. Any Leitpunkt I cannot find is missing, however nice the rest of the letter reads. Vague wording ("einiges hat mir nicht gefallen", some things weren't to my liking) does not count as an example. Numbers, dates and facts from the task count.
Paragraph 3: the reference and the weighing-up
Gerade diese beiden Punkte waren für mich entscheidend ... Einerseits verstehe ich ... Andererseits erwarte ich ...
What I see here: The third Leitpunkt, the reference to the course description, tied to something B1 does not yet demand: weighing up. "Einerseits, andererseits" is not a stock phrase here, it is the structure of the paragraph. That is B2 level inside Kriterium II: not just demanding, but placing your demand in context.
This paragraph also shows why memorised model letters get caught. The connection "I am preparing for the telc B2 exam, so small groups were the reason I chose this course" exists only inside this task. An examiner recognises an assembled letter by the absence of connections like that.
Paragraph 4: the expectation
Ich möchte Sie daher bitten ... Alternativ wäre ich damit einverstanden, wenn Sie mir ... anbieten würden.
What I see here: The fourth Leitpunkt, phrased in Konjunktiv II. "Ich möchte Sie bitten", "wäre ich einverstanden", "würde ich mich freuen": that is the politeness form that carries a demand at B2.
A note from twenty years of examining, not a telc rule: the word Konjunktiv appears nowhere in the official criteria. What is assessed is "sprachliche Vielfalt" and "Registertreue", range of language and consistency of register. But a complaint that demands in the indicative ("Ich will mein Geld zurück. Erstatten Sie sofort!") breaks the semi-formal register, and Registertreue is one of the four things Kriterium II checks. The Konjunktiv is the easiest tool for holding that register.
The deadline at the end ("bis zum 31. August") is optional, but it gives the expectation a shape without becoming rude.
The same letter with one mistake that costs everything
Now the counterpart. Imagine the same language level, but under time pressure the writer read only the bullet points, not the context. She writes an enquiry: whether the institute offers courses with small groups, what they cost, when they start.
Clean German. Tidy structure. And still:
"Wenn für Kriterium I und/oder Kriterium III ‚D' vergeben wurde, wird der gesamte Text mit 0 Punkten bewertet." If Kriterium I and/or Kriterium III is graded D, the entire text is scored 0 points.
The occasion was a complaint about a course already paid for. An enquiry misses the text type, Kriterium I drops to D, and the whole letter counts 0 of 45 points, not a reduced share. If the text no longer relates to the task at all, it counts as "Thema verfehlt", topic missed, and all three criteria are marked D at once.
This is the most expensive mistake in the entire writing part, and it happens in the first sixty seconds, not while writing. The insurance against it costs exactly those sixty seconds: before your first sentence, answer three questions in writing on your scrap paper. Who is writing? To whom? Why right now? If you cannot answer one of them, read the task again.
All four triggers of the rule in detail: why so many telc B2 letters score zero
And the grammar?
The thing candidates worry about most decides least often.
The example letter above would not need to be error-free to pass. In Kriterium III, the top grade does not mean zero mistakes. It means mistakes that do not disturb understanding on a single reading. Only when there are so many errors that the message no longer arrives does the D fall, and then the zero-point rule takes over.
In practice: a wrong case ending in paragraph 2 costs you little. A mixed-up text type costs you everything. Distribute your care accordingly, and spend the final minutes on the errors that block understanding: verb position, the Sie form, and the Konjunktiv where it carries the register.
The Redemittel a complaint letter actually needs
Not a hundred phrases. Two or three per phase, securely mastered:
| Phase | Redemittel |
| Opening | „Leider muss ich Ihnen mitteilen, dass ..." · „Mit großem Bedauern habe ich festgestellt, dass ..." |
| Naming examples | „Auf Ihrer Website wird ... beworben. Tatsächlich ..." · „Darüber hinaus ..." |
| Weighing up | „Einerseits ..., andererseits ..." · „Ich verstehe, dass ..., dennoch ..." |
| Expectation | „Ich möchte Sie daher bitten, ..." · „Alternativ wäre ich damit einverstanden, wenn ..." |
| Closing | „Über eine Antwort bis zum ... würde ich mich freuen." · „Ich erwarte Ihre Rückmeldung." |
An examiner spots memorised phrases that do not fit the task immediately. The test for every phrase on your list: can you fill it with the content of this task? If not, cross it off.
How to build your personal library: the Knaxx Redemittel library
The 30 minutes, divided
- Minute 0 to 3: Read the task, context first. Answer the three questions in writing. Note keywords for the Leitpunkte.
- Minute 3 to 22: Write, one paragraph per Leitpunkt, transitions with B2 connectors.
- Minute 22 to 25: Closing and sign-off. Name on its own line.
- Minute 25 to 29: Correct backwards, sentence by sentence from last to first: verb position, Konjunktiv, Sie form, case.
- Minute 29 to 30: Check the length. Clearly under 150 words? Add a sentence. Otherwise hand it in.
Counting words while writing costs the minutes the correction phase needs. Train your feel for 150 words beforehand, across five or six practice letters, each one counted.
What you can do right now
- Write the task above yourself, under a real 30 minutes, before you reread the example letter.
- Then compare paragraph by paragraph: would a stranger find all four Leitpunkte in your letter without hunting?
- Check your register: is your expectation in Konjunktiv II, or are you demanding in the indicative?
- Repeat with a second task, this time a request for information, so you have consciously experienced the text-type switch once.
- If you want an examiner's verdict on your own letter: take your first exam free at app.knaxxdeutsch.de, no credit card, no account.
Crack the task in the first sixty seconds, and the rest of the letter carries you.
FAQ: the telc B2 complaint letter
How long does a telc B2 complaint letter have to be?
The minimum is 150 words, written inside the 30 minutes. Fall clearly short and Aufgabenbewältigung can drop to D, which triggers the zero-point rule. Clearly above it is not forbidden, but it eats the correction time at the end.
Do I have to cover all the Leitpunkte?
At least three of the four; alternatively two of them plus an additional point of your own. The examiner puts the task sheet next to your letter and looks for each Leitpunkt individually. Whatever cannot be found is missing.
What happens if I write an enquiry instead of a complaint?
Then you miss the text type, Kriterium I is graded D, and the entire letter scores 0 points regardless of the language quality. It is the most expensive single mistake in the writing part.
Do I need Konjunktiv II in a complaint letter?
The official criteria do not name it. What is assessed is range of language and consistency of register, and in the semi-formal register the Konjunktiv II carries your demand most safely. A complaint in the plain indicative quickly reads as too blunt, and that costs in Kriterium II.
How many grammar mistakes am I allowed?
There is no number. The top grade in Kriterium III does not demand an error-free text, but one a reader understands on the first pass. It only becomes critical when the errors make your intention unreadable, because then the zero-point rule takes over.
Can I use a memorised model letter?
The building blocks yes, the letter no. An examiner recognises pre-formulated texts by the missing connections to the specific task. Learn Redemittel per phase and fill them with the content of the task in front of you.
Sources and status
The exam facts in this article, the task format, the choice of two tasks, 150 words, 30 minutes, the three assessment criteria and the zero-point rule quoted verbatim, come from telc's current documents (Übungstest 1 and Tipps zur Prüfungsvorbereitung Deutsch B2). The example task, the letter and the annotations are Knaxx teaching material: a composite, typical task in the style of the exam, not a real telc exam task. The notes on Konjunktiv II are labelled as examiner experience, not as a telc rule.
Status: 15 August 2026.
About the authors
Ela Zakrzewska has taught telc B2 for over twenty years and has marked hundreds of letters against the official telc criteria. She was born in Lithuania and has lived and worked in Poland, Germany, Belgium and the UK. Those five countries, five languages and the networks she has built worldwide shape the Knaxx approach: exam knowledge that accounts for every first language, and a strategy that works for immigrants in Germany because she is one.
Tu-San Pham holds a PhD in AI and data science and is co-founder of Knaxx. She translates Ela's two decades of exam expertise into systems that reach hundreds of learners at once without losing the marking logic. She and Ela met as exam partners in a language exam. Now they are building the exam partner they both wish they'd had.
