People who fail the B1 exam rarely fail because they do not know enough. Most of the time it is the same few avoidable slip-ups that cost points. Once you know them, you collect these points almost for free.
Here are the most common ones, part by part.
Writing: forgetting a guide point
The classic mistake is not grammar, but a missed guide point (Leitpunkt) or the wrong type of text. If the task says “Beschweren Sie sich und schlagen Sie eine Lösung vor” (complain and suggest a solution) and you only write the complaint and forget to suggest a solution, you lose points under the content criterion straight away, no matter how clean the rest is.
The simple habit that prevents it: mark all the guide points before you write and tick them off at the end. And remember the greeting, paragraphs and a closing sentence.
Speaking: answering too briefly
Many people answer in single sentences and then get stuck. That leaves the examiners without enough material to give a good mark.
Build every answer in three steps: what you think, why, and a short example from your everyday life. And practise this out loud, not just in your head, or the exam will be the first time you actually say it.
Reading and Listening: losing time
In Reading you get stuck too long on one tricky task, in Listening you lose the thread once, and safe points are gone. Many recordings are played only once (in the Integration Exam, all of them), so falling behind costs you.
So practise against the clock from the very start, skip difficult items and come back to them at the end. You only get a feel for the timing through real practice runs.
Values: guessing instead of learning
Underestimating the values part and ticking answers at random means throwing away one of the easiest parts to plan for. The questions are in the official catalogue, so they are no secret.
Work through them topic by topic until you understand the logic behind them, not just the memorised answer.
The mistake behind the mistakes
One mistake stands above all the others: practising alone for weeks without ever seeing your own patterns. You keep repeating the same dative mistake, the same overly short speaking style, until it shows up in the exam.
This is where an outside view helps. Feedback that shows you which mistake you keep making is worth more than the tenth practice text nobody has checked.
You improve fastest when you see your own mistakes before the exam shows them to you. Practise Writing and Speaking with feedback that marks and explains every slip-up.
Get my texts checkedFrequently asked questions
What do most people fail on?
Writing or Speaking. There, grammar alone does not decide the result. What matters is whether the task was completed fully and appropriately.
How can I spot my own mistakes?
Hardly on your own, because everyone is blind to their own patterns. You need feedback that marks the places in your text and explains why they cost points.
Isn’t it enough to do lots of model tests?
Tests are good for getting a feel for the timing, but without an evaluation you just practise your mistakes until they stick. Combine them with targeted feedback on exactly the places where you lose points.
As of 13 July 2026, without guarantee. You will find binding information at the official bodies: sprachportal.at (ÖIF) · osd.at (ÖSD).