DTZ Lesen: the five Teile, the pooled score, and one item worked

What the Lesen part is — and why it has no pass line of its own

Lesen is one of the four DTZ parts, with 25 tasks across five Teile, and you get 45 minutes for it. It is sat on paper inside the written block — Hören (about 25 minutes), then Lesen and Schreiben together in one 100-minute written session with no break — and the time you spend copying your Lesen answers onto the Antwortbogen counts inside that block. Every task is worth one mark, so Lesen is worth 25 marks.

Here is the DTZ difference: those 25 reading marks are not scored on their own. They are added to your 20 Hören marks into a single Hören-und-Lesen score out of 45, and it is that combined score that is read against the level bands — B1 is 33–45, A2 is 20–32, below 20 is under A2. g.a.s.t. publishes no separate A2/B1 threshold for reading alone, so there is no such thing as 'passing Lesen'. What there is: every reading point you earn lifts the same pooled score that your listening feeds, so a strong Lesen can carry a shaky Hören and the other way round.

That pooled score is only one input to your certificate. Since 1 November 2026 an overall B1 needs B1 in Speaking (the hard gate) plus a B1 in one written part — Hören-und-Lesen or Schreiben — with the other written part at least A2. So reading matters twice: it is half of the written score that can earn your B1, and it is the floor the other parts rest on.

The five Teile, and the reading each one tests

The five Teile run one after another and mix three kinds of reading — scanning a list for one entry, matching needs to adverts, and reading a text closely for detail or opinion — plus a short gap text at the end. Knowing which Teil wants which stops you reading everything at the same slow, careful pace.

• Teil 1 — a directory or index (e.g. a Rathaus guide)

  Tests: Scanning

  Five short situations, and a directory — a town-hall floor guide, a catalogue, a register. For each situation you decide which entry (or which floor, a/b/c) you need. You do not read the directory through; you scan it for the one department that matches the need. Done fast, this is the cheapest Teil to bank marks on.

• Teil 2 — matching situations to adverts

  Tests: Scanning / matching

  Five people with a need, and a set of small adverts (a to h). You match each person to the advert that fits — and one situation has no matching advert, so you mark an X. That X is the trap: an advert that fits four of five requirements but fails the fifth is still a no-match. Scan each advert for the two or three features the person actually requires, and do not force a fit.

• Teil 3 — press texts and formal notices

  Tests: Detail + opinion

  Three short texts — a press item, a formal letter, an official notice — each with two tasks: one true/false decision and one multiple-choice question (a, b or c). The false statements flip one small detail, and the right MC option is provable from one sentence while the wrong ones reuse a word from the text but say something it does not. This is the Teil the worked item below demonstrates.

• Teil 4 — an information brochure

  Tests: Detail (true/false)

  One longer informational text — a brochure, a set of house rules, a service description — with three true/false statements. The text is drier than the rest, and the answers hinge on precise conditions (who may, who pays, when it is open), so a statement that sounds broadly right is often false on one exact word. Read it closely, not fast.

• Teil 5 — a gap text in a letter

  Tests: Words in context

  A short letter with six gaps; for each you pick the word (a, b or c) that fits. There is no separate grammar module in the DTZ — this cloze is where connectors, prepositions and set phrases are tested, inside Lesen. Read the whole sentence around the gap, not just the slot: the right word usually depends on what comes after it, not only before.

How to work the part under the clock

Bank the fast Teile first. The scanning in Teil 1 and the matching in Teil 2 are quick once you know you are hunting features, not reading prose — do them while you are fresh and you lock in marks early. Leave the close reading of Teil 3 and 4, and the gap text of Teil 5, for when the quick points are already safe. And remember the 45 minutes are inside a shared written block: do not overrun into the time your Schreiben letter needs.

Never leave a blank. There is no penalty for a wrong answer, so a task you run out of time on is still worth a guess — a blank is a guaranteed zero, a guess is not. Mark your answers on the Antwortbogen as you finish each Teil, not all at the end, because the transfer time counts and candidates lose points every session by running out before they have copied anything across. And since every reading mark feeds the same pooled Hören-und-Lesen score, there are no 'throwaway' items here — one more right answer in Teil 5 lifts the same band as one more in Hören.

One Teil 3 item, read the way it is marked

Read the notice once, choose a, b or c for the question, and commit before you scroll to the key. Then check which single sentence in the text proves your answer — if you cannot point to one, you guessed.

This short notice is written for this page in the style of a DTZ everyday text — it is not from a g.a.s.t. Übungssatz, which we would never reproduce.

The text

The question:Was sollen die Bewohner am 14. März tun?

The answer key

• ✓a)Den Flur frei halten.Correct

  Correct. It is a paraphrase, not a copy — 'frei halten' is nowhere in the text — but it says exactly what the notice asks: keine Schuhe, Pflanzen oder andere Gegenstände in den Flur. Keep the hallway clear. Right answers in Teil 3 usually look like this: same instruction, different words.

• ✗b)Den Aufzug benutzen.Wrong

  Wrong, and it is the trap option. It reuses the text's own word Aufzug, so it feels relevant — but the text says the opposite: Der Aufzug kann in dieser Zeit nicht benutzt werden. The lift is exactly what you cannot use that day.

• ✗c)Die Hausverwaltung anrufen.Wrong

  Wrong, and it is a condition trap. The text does give a phone number — but only Wenn Sie Fragen haben. Calling is what you do *if* you have a question, not what everyone is asked to do on the 14th. A general instruction and a conditional one are different claims.

The proving sentence: Bitte stellen Sie an diesem Tag keine Schuhe, Pflanzen oder andere Gegenstände in den Flur.

The method: The question asks what the residents should do, and two options — b and c — reuse a real word from the notice (Aufzug, the phone number), so word-matching cannot answer it. Scan instead for the one sentence that gives an instruction to everyone. It is the Bitte stellen Sie … sentence: keep the hallway clear. That rules out b (the lift is forbidden, not used) and c (calling is only for questions), and confirms a. In the real Teil every true/false and MC answer sits on a sentence like this — find it and you never have to guess.