Goethe B2 Reading: Five Parts, Task Types and Scoring
Level:B2Duration:~3 h 15 minFee:Varies by centreValidity:UnlimitedFormat:Modular
Last updated: 21 September 2026 · Verified against current official Goethe-Institut sources
The Goethe B2 Reading module lasts 65 minutes and contains 30 items spread over five distinct task types. Because each part follows its own logic, learning them one by one pays off faster than general reading practice.
Structure of the five parts
| Part | Objective | Time | Items |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teil 1 | Understanding attitudes and opinions | about 18 min | 9 |
| Teil 2 | Understanding information (gapped text) | about 12 min | 6 |
| Teil 3 | Understanding information (newspaper article) | about 12 min | 6 |
| Teil 4 | Understanding points of view | about 12 min | 6 |
| Teil 5 | Understanding rules and instructions | about 6 min | 3 |
Task types part by part
- Part 1: four forum posts on a topic from private life plus nine statements; each statement is assigned to one person and one person may take several.
- Part 2: six sentences are missing from a factual text and you choose the right six out of eight.
- Part 3: a newspaper article with six three-option items that follow the order of the text.
- Part 4: eight short opinion pieces from a magazine and seven headings; one is an example and one text stays without a heading.
- Part 5: an instructional text split into three sections, for which you pick the fitting headings out of seven.
In Part 2 the decision rests not only on meaning but also on connectors and reference words such as doch, nun and diese.
Correct answers and points
| Correct | Points | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 30 | 100 | very good |
| 24 | 80 | good |
| 21 | 70 | satisfactory |
| 18 | 60 | pass mark |
| 17 | 57 | fail |
Every item counts the same, so securing the easy items beats spending long minutes on a hard one.
Official sources
The exam rules and figures in this guide were checked against the official sources below.
Related guide
Train the reading parts one by one
Work through B2 reading tasks part by part on Zertifly and see which sentence holds the answer whenever you get one wrong.