In telc B2 Schreiben, the whole letter only scores 0 points when you miss the topic: then all three criteria get a D. A D in a single criterion costs you that criterion's points, up to 15 of 45, not the whole letter. The most expensive one is Kriterium I, because you lose it while reading the task, not while writing.
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 believe one serious mistake in Schreiben makes the whole letter worthless. The telc criteria say something different. And knowing the exact rule matters more for your preparation than the fear of it.
"Ich hab im letzten November Telc B2 gemacht und bin im Schreiben durchgefallen. Mir fehlten 4,5 Punkte." (I took telc B2 last November and failed Schreiben. I was 4.5 points short.)
I hear stories like this often. In my experience as a language-school examiner, the lost points rarely come from missing grammar. They come from the task: misread, covered too thinly, the situation overlooked.
That is why Knaxx Rule Number One is: hit the task first, then write well.
- How Schreiben Is Scored
- When You Really Get 0 Points
- Mistake 1: Missing the Situierung
- Mistake 2: Leitpunkte Covered Too Thinly
- Mistake 3: Too Many Grammar Errors
- Mistake 4: Writing Too Little
- The Knaxx Structure for the 30 Minutes
- What You Can Do Now
How Schreiben Is Scored
You have 30 minutes. You choose one of two tasks: a Bitte um Information (request for information) or a Beschwerde (complaint). telc calls the text you write a semi-formal e-mail; we keep calling it a letter here. You need at least 150 words.
Each task comes with four Leitpunkte (points to address). You don't have to cover all four: three are enough, or two plus one aspect of your own that fits the situation.
The three criteria
- Kriterium I, Aufgabenbewältigung (some telc documents call it Behandlung des Schreibanlasses). Did you hit the task: topic, Situierung, Leitpunkte?
- Kriterium II, Kommunikative Gestaltung. Register, vocabulary, structure, connectors.
- Kriterium III, Formale Richtigkeit. Grammar, spelling, punctuation.
How the points add up
| Grade | Points per criterion |
| A | 5 |
| B | 3 |
| C | 1 |
| D | 0 |
The three scores are added and multiplied by three. 45 points maximum. Each criterion is worth up to 15 points.
A D costs you that criterion's 15 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.
When You Really Get 0 Points
There are two ways to walk out of Schreiben with 0 points. Both are about reading, not about your German.
1. Topic missed
If your letter has no or hardly any connection to the task, all three criteria get a D. That is 0 of 45 points, even with excellent German.
2. Task number forgotten
Before you start writing, you copy the number of your writing task onto answer sheet S30. If it is missing or wrong, telc cannot mark your text: zero points for Schreiben. It is the cheapest mistake in the whole exam. Avoiding it takes two seconds.
Same German, three results
The task: you ask a company for information about an internship. Three candidates write equally good German, a B in Kriterium II and a B in Kriterium III.
| Candidate | What they write | Kriterium I | Points |
| A | A request for information, three Leitpunkte, each in more than one sentence | A | (5 + 3 + 3) × 3 = 33 |
| B | An application to the company | D | (0 + 3 + 3) × 3 = 18 |
| C | A complaint about the company's products | D in all three criteria | 0 |
This is the example from telc's own documents: the application misses the Situierung, the complaint misses the topic. Same German. 33, 18 or 0 points. The difference happens in the first three minutes, while reading the task.
That is Knaxx Rule Number One: hit the task first, then write well.
Mistake 1: Missing the Situierung
"If it asks you to write a complaint letter, do not please do not write an application letter, it will be scored zero in this part." (Reddit user)
The advice is right, the reason isn't quite. If your letter stays on topic but in the wrong situation, say an application instead of a request for information, Kriterium I gets a D. That is 15 points less. Kriterium II and III are still marked. It only becomes zero when your text has hardly anything to do with the task.
Situierung means: who is writing, to whom, and why. Under time pressure, many candidates read only the Leitpunkte and skip the situation above them. telc gives the same advice: read the task carefully and pay attention above all to the situation and the Leitpunkte.
The Knaxx strategy
Before writing, answer three questions in writing on your note paper.
- Who is writing? (your role)
- To whom? (recipient and relationship)
- Why right now? (the occasion)
If you can't answer one of them, you haven't understood the task yet. Read it again. It costs 60 seconds and secures Kriterium I.
That is the Knaxx Drei-Fragen-Strategie (three-question strategy). Not magic. It works because it makes you spend 60 seconds reading instead of writing straight away.
Mistake 2: Leitpunkte Covered Too Thinly
In my practice I see the second route to a weak Kriterium I more often than the first: you hit the task, but you cover the Leitpunkte too briefly.
telc is precise here. A Leitpunkt only counts as adequately covered when you write more than a single sentence about it. And the number you cover that way decides the grade:
- A: three Leitpunkte, or two plus one aspect of your own
- B: two Leitpunkte, or one plus one aspect of your own
- C: one Leitpunkt
- D: none
One sentence per Leitpunkt can turn an A into a C. That is 12 points less, even though everything is on the page.
The Knaxx strategy
Plan three Leitpunkte, not four. Write two to three sentences for each: what happened, what you expect, why. If nothing comes to mind for a Leitpunkt, use an aspect of your own that fits the situation. telc explicitly allows it.
Mistake 3: Too Many Grammar Errors
"Ich hab in fast 35 Beschwerden geschrieben. Trotzdem durchgefallen." (I wrote almost 35 complaint letters. Still failed.)
More practice doesn't help when the errors are systematic. Kriterium III measures the level your grammar is at:
- A, B2 fully met: no systematic errors, occasional slips
- 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, for example mixed-up tenses or missing subject-verb agreement
A D in Kriterium III costs you 15 points. It doesn't cost you the whole letter: Kriterium I and II are still marked. But 15 of 45 points can be enough to fail if the other parts are tight.
The four mistakes I see most often
- Verb position. V2 rule in main clauses, Satzklammer with modal verbs, final position in subordinate clauses.
- Avoiding Konjunktiv II. Indicative demands in a Beschwerde read as aggressive.
- Sie/Du switching. A formal letter needs Sie throughout. One Du slip stands out.
- Cases in core sentences. Not in exotic constructions, but in standard phrases with common prepositions.
L1-specific Knaxx traps
In my experience, every first language brings its own stumbling points:
- Slavic L1s (Polish, Russian, Ukrainian): final verb position in subordinate clauses gets lost.
- Romance languages (Spanish, Italian, Portuguese): separable verb prefixes get forgotten.
- Arabic: articles and cases are the most common stumbling points.
- Turkish: verb position and articles work differently than in your first language.
The Knaxx strategy
Correct backwards. In the last four minutes, read your letter sentence by sentence from the last to the first. When you read normally, your brain reads for meaning and skips grammar errors. Reading backwards, you see each sentence on its own.
Check verb position, Konjunktiv and the Sie form. That is the Knaxx Vier-Minuten-Check (four-minute check), a technique from the Knaxx Method.
Mistake 4: Writing Too Little
telc asks for at least 150 words. The scoring criteria contain no separate penalty for short texts. The problem lies elsewhere: with 100 words, you can hardly cover three Leitpunkte with more than one sentence each. Then Kriterium I drops, see Mistake 2.
Writing far more than 150 words earns no extra points. It does cost you time you need for correcting.
The Knaxx strategy
Train your feel for 150 words. During preparation, write five to six practice letters and count each one. After four attempts you know what 150 words look like for you: how many sentences, how many lines. In the real exam you no longer count. That is the Knaxx Wortzahl-Sensor (word-count sensor). Not a trick, but training.
The Knaxx Structure for the 30 Minutes
telc advises against drafting the text first and copying it out afterwards: there isn't time. Work with keywords, then write the final text directly.
Briefly on Redemittel: B2 also shows in your connectors. "Und" and "aber" aren't enough. Choose your Redemittel for each phase before the exam and practise them in your practice letters.
Which Redemittel actually earn points and which are just filler: read the Redemittel guide.
| Minute | Phase | What you do | Redemittel |
| 0–3 | Preparation | Copy the task number onto S30, choose the task, three-question strategy, keywords for three Leitpunkte | Choose your opening and transitions |
| 3–5 | Opening | Subject line, greeting, Situierung in two sentences | "Mit großem Interesse habe ich …" |
| 5–10 | Leitpunkt 1 | Two to three sentences | Introductory Redemittel + Konjunktiv courtesy |
| 10–15 | Leitpunkt 2 | Two to three sentences, with a transition | "Darüber hinaus …" / "Andererseits …" |
| 15–20 | Leitpunkt 3 or own aspect | Two to three sentences, with a transition | "Außerdem …" / "Nicht zuletzt …" |
| 20–25 | Closing | State your expectation, closing formula | "Über eine schnelle Antwort würde ich mich freuen." |
| 25–29 | Knaxx Vier-Minuten-Check | Read backwards: verb position, Konjunktiv, Sie form, cases | Konjunktiv II in at least two places? |
| 29–30 | Final | Knaxx Wortzahl-Sensor: too short? Add a sentence. Otherwise hand in. | — |
What Most Prep Materials Leave Out
"Even my tutor who is a professional complimented my writing." (Reddit user after another failure)
Most courses explain what Schreiben covers. They show you model letters and give you Redemittel lists. They rarely explain how the points come about: that each criterion is worth up to 15 points, and that Kriterium I is decided while reading, not while writing.
That is the drama in that quote: the tutor praised the German. But the marking also asked whether the task was hit.
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 see which criterion is at risk in your letter, and what you can still change in the preparation time you have left.
What You Can Do Now
If your exam is in the next few weeks:
- Write a practice letter using the Knaxx Drei-Fragen-Strategie. Answer the three questions in writing before you start.
- Plan three Leitpunkte with two to three sentences each, not four thin ones.
- Choose your Redemittel for each phase and practise them in your practice letters.
- Apply the Knaxx Vier-Minuten-Check backwards.
- Train your Knaxx Wortzahl-Sensor with five to six practice letters.
- In the exam, first copy the task number onto answer sheet S30.
Hit the task before you write.
An Honest Note in Closing
Every letter is read by two licensed telc raters. The second rating confirms or corrects the first, and telc's rating is final. There is some room at the borders between two grades, B or C, C or D. Don't build on it. Plan so that you don't end up at the border.
FAQ: telc B2 Schreiben and 0 Points
When do you get 0 points in telc B2 Schreiben?
When the text misses the topic: then all three criteria get a D, which is 0 of 45 points. Also when the writing task number is missing or wrong on answer sheet S30. A D in only one criterion does not set the letter to zero.
What does a D in one criterion cost?
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.
What happens if I write the wrong text type?
If your letter stays on topic but in the wrong situation, for example an application instead of a request for information, Kriterium I gets a D: 15 points less. Kriterium II and III are marked as usual. If the text has hardly anything to do with the task, the topic counts as missed, and you get 0 points.
How many Leitpunkte do I have to cover?
Three of the four, or two plus one aspect of your own, each with more than one sentence. That is what an A in Kriterium I requires.
How many words does a telc B2 letter need?
At least 150 words in 30 minutes. If you write much less, you can hardly cover three Leitpunkte with more than one sentence each, and Kriterium I drops.
Sources and Status
All scoring information comes from telc's current documents: Tipps zur Prüfungsvorbereitung Deutsch B2 (6th edition, 2020), pp. 14–15 and 19–21, and Handbuch telc Deutsch B2 (8th edition, 2019), p. 43. Experience-based statements are marked as such. Status: October 2026.
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.
