Writing at B1 Level for the PET Exam

Common failure modes

These are the patterns that cause most candidates to lose marks on this topic. Recognising them in advance is half the work.

• !Writing fewer than 80 words — insufficient to cover all three points adequately
• !Using informal language in a formally-framed task or vice versa
• !Covering all points but with too many grammar errors to convey meaning clearly

Study tips

• 1Practice the 5-step writing process: read task → identify 3 points → plan 3 paragraphs → write → count words.
• 2Learn the email register conventions: formal (Dear Mr Smith, Yours sincerely) vs informal (Hi Ana, Best wishes).
• 3Aim for 100–120 words — enough to cover all points with some elaboration.

Sample PET Writing at B1 Level questions

These sample items mirror the format and difficulty of real PET questions. Practice with thousands more on the free Koydo question bank.

1. 1

   The task says: "Write an email to your English friend: (1) tell them about a film you saw, (2) explain what you liked about it, (3) suggest a film to watch together." The minimum requirements are:

   • AName the film only
   • BCover all three points in approximately 100 wordsCorrect
   • CWrite a detailed film review of 200 words
   • DJust describe the film's plot in detail
   Why this answer?

   B1 Preliminary Writing awards marks for: communication (all 3 content points covered), organisation, and language. The task requires approximately 100 words to address all three points. A review or plot summary alone would miss the other required points.