Mock exam, free and unofficial
B1 Preliminary
B1 Preliminary (formerly PET) shows that you can deal with everyday English: understand the main points of clear texts and write simple, connected texts. These mock exams follow its Reading and Writing papers, with a timer, instant scoring and written feedback.
- Reading
- 45 min
- Writing
- 45 min
- Reading questions
- 32
- Scale
- 102–170
Reading
Six parts in 45 minutes, from short notices and messages to a longer article and two gap-filling tasks on grammar and vocabulary.
| Part | Task | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Multiple choice: read a text and choose the best answer to each question | 5 |
| 2 | Multiple matching: match statements or people to the right short texts | 5 |
| 3 | Multiple choice: read a text and choose the best answer to each question | 5 |
| 4 | Gapped text: put the missing sentences back into a text | 5 |
| 5 | Multiple-choice cloze: choose the word that fits each gap in a text | 6 |
| 6 | Open cloze: fill each gap with one word of your own | 6 |
Writing
Two tasks in 45 minutes: a compulsory email or message replying to a situation, then a choice between a story and an article, each of around 100 words.
Words asked for in each task: 80–120.
Each answer is marked on four criteria, each from 0 to 5: Content, Communicative Achievement, Organisation and Language. Our feedback follows the same four criteria, with corrections quoted from your own text.
How it is scored
Every paper is converted to the Cambridge English Scale. At B1 Preliminary the scale runs from 102–170, and about 140 is the pass mark. Your result here shows an estimated scale score and grade for each attempt.
These are unofficial estimates produced by this tool. They help you see progress, but they do not predict your result in a real exam.
What to practise
- Time the paper: 45 minutes is short, so learn how long each part deserves before exam day.
- In the cloze parts, read the whole sentence before choosing, and check the word fits the grammar as well as the meaning.
- In Writing, answer every point in the task and organise the text in short paragraphs.
Practise B1 Preliminary against the clock: the timer is kept by our server, so it behaves like the real thing.