What Is the DTZ? Free Deutsch-Test für Zuwanderer Practice Questions by Topic (A2-B1)

What is the DTZ, and who takes it?

The Deutsch-Test für Zuwanderer is the final exam (Abschlussprüfung) of the state integration course in Germany. It certifies your everyday German across four skills, listening, reading, writing and speaking, and reports your overall result at level A2 or B1 of the Common European Framework. Below A2 there is no certificate, only a notice of your result. Most people meet the DTZ at the end of a BAMF-funded integration course, where the first attempt is normally free; repeat or standalone attempts are chargeable and the fee varies by provider, so confirm details with your course provider or the BAMF. The result matters well beyond the course: an overall B1 is a requirement for the Zertifikat Integrationskurs and an important step toward a settlement permit (Niederlassungserlaubnis) and naturalisation (Einbürgerung). The exam itself is developed and run by telc gGmbH and g.a.s.t. on behalf of the BAMF, and its content follows the framework curriculum for integration courses developed by the Goethe-Institut, which is built around the real communication needs of people who have moved to Germany.

How is the DTZ structured and scored?

The DTZ has two parts. The written part lasts 100 minutes and covers listening (Hören), reading (Lesen) and a short letter (Schreiben). The oral part (Sprechen) lasts around 15 minutes: you introduce yourself and then talk with the examiners and one other candidate. There is no single pass mark across the paper; instead, each skill block is assessed at A2 or B1, and the overall certificate level follows a fixed rule. For an overall B1 (or A2), you must reach that level in Speaking and in at least one of the other blocks, either Listening and Reading combined or Writing. The practical consequence is that speaking is non-negotiable: strong reading can never compensate for weak speaking, so you should rehearse the oral exam as seriously as you drill the written paper. The reverse is also true, though: once your speaking is solid, a strong Listening and Reading result alone can carry you to B1 overall, which is why systematic reading practice, the kind on these pages, pays off so directly.

How do these free practice questions map to the real exam?

Every free question on this hub is a short reading task in German: a realistic everyday text, a job ad, a landlord's notice, a letter from an office, a doctor's note, a supermarket flyer or a school letter, followed by one question with four options and a clear explanation. This mirrors how the DTZ reading section works: it tests whether you can pull the one fact that matters out of an authentic everyday text, a date, a price, a deadline, a document you must bring. Drilling these tasks trains two things at once: the reading skill itself and the everyday vocabulary in context, words like Kaltmiete, Nebenkosten, Überweisung, Zählerstand and Aufenthaltstitel, which recur across the whole exam. That vocabulary then feeds straight into the letter you must write and the conversations in the speaking test, because the DTZ deliberately recycles the same everyday situations across all four skills. None of these are official exam questions: the official DTZ materials are copyright-protected, so every task here is written from scratch to match the publicly documented format and level.

The six practice topics on this hub

The DTZ draws its situations from the integration course curriculum, and this hub groups its practice questions into the same six everyday themes. Each guide below explains its theme in English, shows you the recurring text types and vocabulary patterns, gives you a comparison table for the points candidates most often confuse, and lets you try free practice questions in German:

• Arbeit und Beruf: job ads, workplace notices, emails from the boss, holiday rotas and the Arbeitszeugnis.
• Wohnen und Alltag: flat listings, Kaltmiete and Nebenkosten, house rules, quiet hours and the handover protocol.
• Ämter und Behörden: appointment confirmations, letters from the Bürgeramt and Ausländerbehörde, forms and applications.
• Gesundheit und Soziales: doctors' opening hours, referrals, prescriptions and notices, the Versichertenkarte and the Impfpass.
• Einkauf, Geld und Verträge: special offers, small ads, returns and cancellation rights, bills and meter readings.
• Familie, Bildung und Freizeit: letters from school and Kita, class trips, museum and zoo notices, courses and clubs.

How to use these pages, and what the app adds

Start with the theme that feels hardest in your own life, offices and housing are the usual suspects, and work the free questions until the recurring vocabulary stops surprising you. Read every explanation even when you answer correctly: each one is written in German and English, and the reasoning is where the transferable pattern lives. The questions on these pages are a free slice of the same bank that powers our offline app, which contains 480 original reading tasks and 571 flashcards across all six themes, a listening module with 60 recorded tasks in the four DTZ Hören formats, letter templates with five model letters for the writing section, and speaking-test preparation with typical questions and model answers, all for a one-time 6.99 euros with explanations in German and English. A timed practice mock draws 25 questions in 45 minutes, weighted across the six themes. One honesty note, the same one we print in the app: this site and app are independent study aids, not affiliated with or endorsed by the BAMF, telc gGmbH, g.a.s.t. or the Goethe-Institut, and no official exam questions are reproduced. The exam facts on this page are verified against the official BAMF page linked above and were last reviewed on 2026-07-03; confirm dates, fees and registration with your course provider or the BAMF.