Two tasks, eighty minutes, under exam conditions: the clock starts when you type your first word, and nothing is marked until you hand the paper in. Forty minutes each, including five minutes of planning on paper and five of checking. When you hand in, mark your own drafts against the four criteria the examiner uses; the model and the plan open then, for the debrief and the rewrite.
This is the exam-conditions mock: nothing is checked until you hand in. The clock starts when you answer your first question. After you hand in, every part is marked at once and the support opens for the debrief.
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 work and free time. 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:
181 words. Read it as a shape, not a script — the shape is what transfers to the next essay you write.
Not long ago, almost everything in Britain closed on a Sunday, and many people now wonder whether that was a mistake to abandon. I believe a single day of rest each week would do more good than harm.
The clearest argument concerns the people behind the counters. Shops are open seven days a week only because somebody is working all of them, and it is rarely the owner. A guaranteed day off, which nobody could be asked to give up, would protect exactly the workers who have the least power to protect themselves.
Families would benefit too. When every member of a household works or shops on a different day, there is no day they all share. If nothing were open, there would be nothing to do except be together — which, admittedly, is not everyone's idea of pleasure.
My own reason is about noise. A town with one quiet day a week is a town that can hear itself.
The objection is real: a closed day is inconvenient. But convenience has had thirty years, and rest deserves one day.
What the examiner is seeing: the opinion arrives in the second sentence; note 1 identifies who is affected and why they matter; note 2 concedes the other side (“admittedly”) inside the paragraph; the third idea is two sentences and unmistakably new; and the conclusion admits the strongest objection before closing on the opinion from paragraph 1.
The plan.
Every content point must appear.
An opening you can borrow. “Not long ago, … , and many people now wonder whether … . I believe … .” — the situation, the question, your position: three moves in two sentences. If the third move will not come, 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 letter of application, 172 words — because a formal letter is the genre where one contraction or one “Hi” costs a whole band. Openings for the other two follow it.
Dear Ms Harper,
I am writing to apply for a volunteer position at the Summer Arts Festival, which I saw advertised in yesterday's newspaper.
I believe I would be well suited to the role. I have been studying English for six years and use it daily, and I am familiar with the town, having lived here all my life. I also attended the festival as a visitor last year, so I know how the events are organised and where visitors tend to get lost.
As for experience, I have worked on Saturdays at a busy café for the past two years, where I deal with customers of all ages, many of them tourists. I am used to answering questions quickly and remaining calm when the room is full.
I am available for the whole of July, including weekends, and would be happy to work evenings if required.
I would be grateful for the opportunity to discuss the position further, and I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely,
Rafael Costa
What the examiner is seeing: the three things the advertisement asked for, one paragraph each, in the order asked; not one contraction; a participle clause (having lived here), a present perfect continuous, a passive (are organised) and a conditional (if required) used because the sentences needed them; and a sign-off that matches the greeting — Dear Ms Harper takes Yours sincerely, never Yours faithfully.
If you chose Question 3, the report should open like this: “Introduction — The purpose of this report is to describe the facilities currently available to evening students, to outline the difficulties they face, and to recommend two changes.” — then a heading for each of the three, and the two recommendations following from the problems named above them.
If you chose Question 4, the article should open like this: “There is a machine in your kitchen that gave your grandmother a day a week of her life back, and you have never once thanked it.” — a hook, a reader addressed, and the object hinted at but not named until sentence three. Then: how it changed lives, and whether we take it for granted, which is the instruction candidates forget.
The plan.
Every content point must appear.
An opening you can borrow. Letter: “Dear Ms Harper, I am writing to apply for … , which I saw advertised in … .” · Report: “The purpose of this report is to describe … , to outline … and to recommend … .” · Article: “There is a … in your … that … , and you have never once … .” 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, whether you finished inside eighty minutes, and whether you can honestly tick four criteria. Those are where most B2 marks are lost.
This is the last mock before the real thing. If you ran out of time, the fix is not writing faster — it is planning on paper for five minutes, which makes the writing faster on its own. If a criterion would not tick, rewrite that task once, tonight, with the plan open. Then close the paper. One rewrite the night before is worth more than three.