Two tasks, eighty minutes: forty minutes each, and that includes five minutes of planning and five of checking. This is the scaffolded mock, so the plan, the content points and an opening are already open under each task. Write with them in front of you, mark your own draft against the four criteria, then clear the support and write the task again from a blank page. The model appears only after you have checked — reading it first is the one way to waste this paper.
This is the scaffolded mock: every part opens with its support showing. Use it, check, then clear it and try the part alone — that second attempt is the one to watch.
You must answer this question. Write your essay in 140–190 words in an appropriate style. Forty minutes, including planning.
In your English class you have been talking about holidays. Now your English teacher has asked you to write an essay.
Write an essay using all the notes and giving reasons for your point of view.
Your answer 0 words
Mark your own against the real criteria:
178 words. Read it as a shape, not a script — the shape is what transfers to the next essay you write.
Every summer the same argument returns: should we explore the country we already live in, or get on a plane? In my view both have their place, but for most people, most years, staying at home is the better choice.
The first reason is money. A holiday abroad is rarely as cheap as it looks, because the flight is only the beginning: there are transfers, insurance and a week of paying in a currency you do not quite understand. The same budget spent at home usually buys more days, and more days are what a holiday is for.
It is often said that travelling abroad teaches you more, and it is true that another culture makes you notice your own. However, most of us know surprisingly little about the regions of our own country, and a week in one of them can be just as educational.
My own reason is simpler. A holiday that begins with two hours in an airport has already lost a day.
Going abroad is exciting, but excitement is not the same as rest, and rest is what most of us actually need.
What the examiner is seeing: the opinion is stated by line three; note 1 has a concrete list, not a general sentence; note 2 concedes the other side (“it is true that…”) before answering it; the third idea is one sentence and unmistakably new; and the conclusion adds no argument — it closes the one from paragraph 1.
The plan.
Every content point must appear.
An opening you can borrow. “Every summer the same argument returns: … or … ? In my view … .” — that is two sentences: the two sides, then your position. If you cannot finish the second one, you have not decided your opinion yet, and the essay will wander. Decide it before you write.
Write an answer to one of the questions 2–4 in 140–190 words in an appropriate style. Put the question number at the top of your answer. Forty minutes.
Your answer 0 words
Mark your own against the real criteria:
A model for Question 2 — the email, 168 words — because the email is the one of the three where register loses the most marks. Openings for the other two follow it.
Hi Sam,
That's brilliant news — October is actually a good time to come, and I've already started making a list.
The one thing you shouldn't miss is the old town, which is best early on a Saturday when the market is on. I'd also take you to the coast for a day, if you fancy it, because the beach is empty by then and the light is amazing.
As for the weather, don't believe anyone who tells you it's still summer. Mornings can be cold and it rains more than you'd expect, so bring a proper jacket and shoes you don't mind getting wet. You won't need anything smart.
One more thing: people here eat late, so if you're starving at six, say so and we'll find somewhere. Oh — and learn “thank you” before you land. It gets you a long way.
Let me know your flight times and I'll meet you at the airport.
Can't wait,
Ana
What the examiner is seeing: Sam's three questions answered in Sam's order, one paragraph each; contractions throughout, because it is a friend; a conditional (if you fancy it), a relative clause (which is best…) and an imperative used naturally; and a closing line that does something (flight times) rather than just stopping.
If you chose Question 3, the article should open like this: “Ask anyone in my town where to go for a day out and they will say the city. They are wrong. Forty minutes in the other direction, at the end of a bus route nobody uses, there is a lake.” — a hook, a reader addressed, and the place named by sentence three. Then: what you do there, and why it beats the obvious choice.
If you chose Question 4, the review should open like this: “Some series are about something. This one is about a village where nothing happens, and it is the most gripping thing I have watched all year.” — what it is, then a judgement, inside two sentences. Keep the language-learning verdict for the last paragraph; it is the instruction candidates forget.
The plan.
Every content point must appear.
An opening you can borrow. Email: “Hi Sam, That's brilliant news — … .” · Article: “Ask anyone in my town where to go for a day out and they will say … . They are wrong.” · Review: “Some series are about something. This one is about … .” Learn those three openings and you have removed the worst two minutes of the exam.
Writing is not marked by a page. What the page can tell you is whether you covered every content point, whether you hit the length, and whether you can honestly tick four criteria. Those three things are where most B2 marks are lost.
The plan you wrote with today is the plan you will have to build yourself in Mock 2. So after the second draft, close the page and write the plan for each task from memory on a piece of paper — headings only. If you can do that, the scaffold has done its job.