Yes, you can pass telc B2 with grammar mistakes. A D in Formale Richtigkeit costs you up to 15 of the 45 points in Schreiben, not the whole letter. Each criterion is graded on its own. There is some room at the borders between two grades, and that is exactly where you don't want to land.
By Ela Zakrzewska. For over 20 years she has prepared learners for telc exams and marked their exam papers against the telc criteria.
Many candidates have heard that a D in grammar sets the whole letter to 0 points. That isn't true. But twenty years of correcting have also shown me: wherever people grade, there is judgement. It just sits in a different place than many people think.
"Likely got zero points but I kicked butt on the rest." (Reddit user after telc B2, r/Germanlearning)
This candidate feared their letter was lost. Whether they were right, we don't know. But the fear behind it often rests on a rule that doesn't exist in this form for telc B2. The whole letter only scores 0 points when you miss the topic.
This article is not an invitation to rely on luck. It's an honest framing: where is judgement really involved in Schreiben, and why shouldn't you build on it anyway?
- What the Rule Really Says
- Why You Still Shouldn't Plan for the Border
- What You Should Learn from Examiner Discretion
- The Honest Framing of the Knaxx Method
- When You End Up at the Border
- What You Can Do Now
What the Rule Really Says — and Where Judgement Comes In
"Most people fail not because their German is bad, but because they mess up the formal structure." (Reddit user, r/Germanlearning)
The letter is scored on three criteria: I Aufgabenbewältigung (task completion), II Kommunikative Gestaltung (communicative design), III Formale Richtigkeit (formal accuracy). Each criterion gets A, B, C or D, worth 5, 3, 1 or 0 points. The total is multiplied by three, 45 points maximum. So each criterion is worth up to 15 points.
A D costs you that criterion's points, not the whole letter. telc says so explicitly: even when Kriterium III gets a D, Kriterium I and II can still be graded A, B or C.
Each grade comes with a description. For Formale Richtigkeit, for example:
- B, B2 met: a few systematic errors that don't put understanding at risk
- C, B1: several systematic errors, but the meaning stays mostly clear
- D, A2 or below: many systematic, elementary errors
This is where the real room lies. Not in whether a rule applies, but at the border between two grades: are these still "a few" or already "several" systematic errors? Is the text still "mostly clear"? That is judgement. Four situations show where it comes in, and where it doesn't.
Situation 1 — When you hit the wrong situation
An application instead of a request for information does not lead to 0 points. This is the example from telc's own documents: if your letter stays on topic but in the wrong situation, the Situierung is missed. Then only Kriterium I gets a D. Kriterium II and III are still marked.
With a B in Kriterium II and III, that is (0 + 3 + 3) × 3 = 18 points instead of 0. These "partial points" aren't the examiner being lenient. They are the rule. You only get 0 when your text has no or hardly any connection to the task: then the topic is missed, and all three criteria get a D.
In my experience, judgement comes in here mainly with hybrid texts that are half inquiry, half something else. Whether the situation is still hit is not something you should leave to the examiner. Hit it clearly.
Situation 2 — When grammar errors don't block comprehension
Formale Richtigkeit measures the level your grammar is at. "Puts understanding at risk" and "mostly clear" are descriptions, not an error count. Whether three verb-position errors in 150 words are "a few" or "several" systematic errors is exactly that kind of border decision between B and C.
And even a D in Kriterium III doesn't set your letter to zero. A letter with an A in Kriterium I and a B in Kriterium II gets (5 + 3 + 1) × 3 = 27 points with a C in III, and (5 + 3 + 0) × 3 = 24 points with a D in III. Expensive, but not the end.
In my experience: someone who uses Konjunktiv II confidently, uses B2 connectors, and stays clear shows B2 level and is more likely to land on the right side of the border.
Situation 3 — When two people read the same letter
Grading is human judgement. That is why telc doesn't rely on one person: every letter is read by two licensed telc raters. The second rating confirms or corrects the first, and telc's rating is final.
In practice, this means a letter that clearly sits in one grade gets that grade. It only gets uncertain where a letter sits right on the border between two grades. Not radically, but in Schreiben every grade step in one criterion is worth 3 to 6 points.
This gray zone isn't a weakness of the system. It's the unavoidable reality of any grading that uses descriptions instead of an error count.
Situation 4 — When one criterion is weak and the others are strong
Each criterion is graded on its own. A weak criterion doesn't drag the others down, and strong criteria don't rescue the weak one.
Specifically: a letter with a clear Situierung, good structure, and B2 connectors throughout — but a mismatched salutation — won't go to 0 points. A salutation that doesn't fit the register is a matter for Kriterium II. It can cost a grade step there, not the whole letter.
Why You Still Shouldn't Plan for the Border
"I know I've done the email very carefully…" (Reddit user with 3/45 points, r/Germanlearning)
The result only shows a percentage per exam part, no grades per criterion. But arithmetically, 3 of 45 points allows only one combination: one C and two Ds. Even this letter wasn't at zero. But it shows how quickly grade steps add up.
You might draw the wrong conclusion from these four situations: "So it doesn't matter. There's room."
Wrong. Here's why:
You don't know where the border falls for your letter
You can't know in advance whether your errors will read as "a few" or "several" systematic errors. Plan so that your letter clearly sits in one grade. Then the border isn't your problem.
Discretion goes both ways
A letter at the border between C and D can land on either side. The second rating confirms or corrects, in both directions. Discretion isn't automatically your friend.
Small steps add up
One grade step in one criterion costs 3 to 6 points. Slip one step in two criteria and you can quickly be 9 or 12 points down. If you're at several borders at once, that's where you lose the most.
What You Should Learn from Examiner Discretion
Three practical insights you can adopt into your preparation:
Insight 1 — Each criterion counts on its own
When you invest time in preparation, distribute it across all three criteria, not just one. Each is worth up to 15 points. A letter with perfect vocabulary but weak task completion loses in Kriterium I what it gains in Kriterium II.
Insight 2 — Clarity is written into the criteria
The question "Do I understand what this person is trying to say?" isn't an unspoken extra category. It's in the descriptions: in Kriterium III it separates B ("understanding not at risk") from C ("mostly clear"). And in Kriterium I it decides whether you visibly hit the situation and the Leitpunkte.
Knaxx strategy: Write so that your communicative intent is clear in the first two sentences. Who you are, who you're writing to, what you want to achieve. If these three things are immediately clear, the task is visibly hit — even if something else wobbles.
Insight 3 — Consistency beats individual highlights
A letter with one perfect phrase and four mediocre ones is weaker than a letter with five consistently good phrases. Kriterium III asks about systematic errors, meaning what runs through the whole text. Someone who reliably masters five Konjunktiv phrases stands on firmer ground than someone who can do three phrases perfectly and two with errors.
The Honest Framing of the Knaxx Method
You might wonder: why does Knaxx plan so strictly if a D doesn't cost the whole letter?
Because every grade step costs points, and because you don't know which side of the border you'll land on. That is why Knaxx Rule Number One is: hit the task first, then write well.
What the Knaxx strategy secures:
- The Knaxx Drei-Fragen-Strategie secures that your communicative intent and the Situierung are clear (Insight 2)
- The Knaxx Vier-Minuten-Check secures that systematic grammar errors get caught before you hand in (Insight 3)
- The Knaxx-Redemittel library secures that your language quality is consistent (Insights 1 and 3)
This is not a trick against the grading. This is a plan that works regardless of discretion. With the Knaxx method, your letter sits clearly in one grade, not on the border.
Discretion exists. But discretion isn't a plan.
When You End Up at the Border
Here are the warning signals that your letter is slipping into a gray zone likely to tilt against you:
- You switched text type mid-letter. Beginning Beschwerde, middle inquiry. Hybrid without system. That's not "bold" — it's confusing, and it puts the Situierung in Kriterium I at risk.
- Your salutation doesn't match your content. "Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren" and then content that reads like a personal complaint to a friend. Register break, Kriterium II.
- You have no recognizable structure. If no one can see where the first Leitpunkt ends and the second begins, the structure suffers. And a Leitpunkt only counts when you write more than one sentence about it.
- You used idioms or proverbs. In formal letters, a clear register signal. Once it stands out; several times it becomes a pattern.
If any of these apply to you, discretion isn't your friend.
What You Can Do Now
You read this article because you wanted to know whether you can still pass telc B2 with grammar mistakes. Answer: yes. A D in Formale Richtigkeit costs up to 15 points, not the letter. But every grade step counts.
What you should take from this:
- Plan for a clear grade, not for the border. The Knaxx method from the main article on Schreiben Teil 1 is your insurance.
- Invest in all three criteria equally. Not one perfectly and two mediocre.
- Train communicative clarity. It's written into the criteria themselves.
- Avoid the warning signals. Register breaks and missing structure put you at the border.
Crack the task — and don't plan for the border.
Beta Access to the Knaxx App
Knaxx is currently in Beta, before the official launch. You can test the app now and help shape how it grows through your feedback: secure Beta access at app.knaxxdeutsch.de/signup. You get the examiner's perspective on your letters — not just "right or wrong," but an actual assessment of how an examiner would read your letter — and you help decide what the app learns next.
telc B2 Scoring: How Strict Is It Really?
Does the whole letter get 0 points if one criterion gets a D?
No. A D costs that criterion's points, up to 15 of 45. Each criterion gets A, B, C or D, worth 5, 3, 1 or 0 points, and the total is multiplied by three. The whole letter only gets 0 points when the topic is missed, meaning the text has no or hardly any connection to the task.
Are telc B2 examiners strict?
They grade against fixed descriptions for each grade. Judgement is needed where a letter sits right at the border between two grades, for example between "a few" and "several" systematic errors. If your letter clearly sits in one grade, the border doesn't matter. So don't plan for the border.
Can you still pass telc B2 with grammar mistakes?
Yes. A few mistakes are normal: even "B2 met" means a few systematic errors that don't put understanding at risk. Even a D in Formale Richtigkeit costs up to 15 points, not the letter: with an A in Kriterium I and a B in Kriterium II you still get (5 + 3 + 0) × 3 = 24 points. It gets critical when systematic, elementary errors pile up so much that you can hardly be understood. Clear beats flawless.
Do two examiners score the telc B2 writing?
Yes. Every letter is read by two licensed telc raters. The second rating confirms or corrects the first, and telc's rating is final.
When do you end up at the border between two grades?
When you switch text type mid-letter, when your salutation and register don't match the content, when there's no recognizable structure, or when you reach for idioms and proverbs in a formal Brief. These read as confusion or wrong register. At the border, a grade step can fall either way. Discretion isn't automatically your friend.
About the Authors
Ela Zakrzewska has taught telc B2 for over twenty years and corrected hundreds of letters using the official telc criteria. She shapes the Knaxx approach: exam knowledge that accounts for every native language, and a strategy that works for immigrants in Germany — because she is one too.
Tu-San Pham is a PhD-level AI and data scientist and co-founder of Knaxx. She translates Ela's two decades of exam expertise into systems that reach hundreds of learners simultaneously, without losing the evaluation logic. She and Ela met as exam partners in a language exam. Now they're building together the exam partner they both wished they'd had.
