- Stufen A–Egrades A to E
- Every criterion gets exactly one grade, from A, the best, to E; there are no grades in between. Each grade stands for a fixed number of points that varies from task to task — Wortschatz in the Forumsbeitrag, for example, earns 16 points at A, 8 at C and 0 at E. A C in every criterion adds up to 50 of 100 points: not a pass.
- Aufgabenerfüllung (Erfüllung)task achievement
- Aufgabenerfüllung, Erfüllung for short, judges whether you do what the task asks: content, length and the language functions it calls for. In Schreiben it also covers register, and an A needs all four Inhaltspunkte handled appropriately. In Sprechen it asks, for instance, whether your Vortrag weighs up the advantages and disadvantages rather than just naming them, and whether you end the Diskussion with a summary. An E in Erfüllung costs the whole task — see Nullregel.
- Nullregelthe zero rule
- The marking criteria are explicit: if Aufgabenerfüllung is graded E, the whole task scores 0 points. Good German does not rescue it. In Schreiben, E means the text has fewer than half the required words — under 75 for the Forumsbeitrag, under 50 for the Nachricht — or misses the topic. The rule applies in Schreiben and in Sprechen; no other criterion sets a task to zero.
- Kohärenzcoherence
- In Schreiben, Kohärenz judges how the text is built — an Einleitung, a Schluss, a logical order — and how sentences and clauses are linked. In Sprechen Teil 1 it covers linking and fluency: whether you speak naturally, slowly or haltingly. Sentences simply strung together cost points here, even if each one is correct.
- Wortschatzvocabulary
- Wortschatz judges range — how wide and precise your words are — and control — whether slips get in the way of understanding. An A needs differentiated vocabulary in which isolated slips do not impair understanding. In Sprechen, idioms and both standard and colloquial German count too.
- Strukturengrammar
- Strukturen judges grammar the same way: range — how varied your forms and sentences are — and control — how accurate they stay. In Schreiben, spelling counts here too. Range at B2 means things like subordinate clauses, the passive and Konjunktiv II.
