Letter or story? Choosing your Polish B1 writing task

In the writing part of the Polish B1 state exam you don't write on a single fixed topic. You get three task sets and choose one. Each set has two texts:

• a short one — e.g. wishes, a notice, a note, an invitation,
• a longer one — e.g. a personal letter, an email, a formal letter, an account or a story.

Each text is scored 0–15, for 30 points in total. The exact word count is always given in the task — in sample papers it's usually a few dozen words for the short text and around 150–175 for the longer one.

Choosing the set is the first decision that affects your score. How should you make it?

Rule #1: look at both tasks at once

You're choosing a whole set, not one topic. A great long-text topic won't help if the short task in the same set is unclear to you. Read all six tasks before you start writing.

When to choose a letter or email

The safest choice for most candidates.

Pros:

• You know the set phrases ("Cześć", "Piszę do Ciebie, ponieważ…", "Pozdrawiam").
• Simple structure: opening — task points — closing.
• Task points turn easily into paragraphs.

Cons:

• It's easy to write too simply. To get full marks for range of language, you need richer vocabulary and complex sentences.

Ready-made model emails: Polish B1 exam email: model letters.

When to choose an account or story

Pros:

• Works well if you're comfortable with the past tense and verb aspect (robiłem / zrobiłem).
• Lots of room to show vocabulary: descriptions, emotions, sequence of events (najpierw, potem, w końcu).

Cons:

• Easy to make mistakes in past-tense and gender forms (poszedłem / poszłam / poszli / poszły).
• You must make sure the story covers all task points, not just that it's interesting.

Is there an essay (rozprawka) at B1?

A classic argumentative essay with a thesis and arguments belongs to higher levels (B2). At B1, tasks are more often about everyday situations: letters, emails, accounts, notices. If a task asks for your opinion ("Napisz, co o tym myślisz"), these phrases help:

• Moim zdaniem… / Uważam, że… (In my opinion… / I think that…)
• Z jednej strony… z drugiej strony… (On the one hand… on the other…)
• Dlatego myślę, że… (That's why I think…)

Summary: how to choose

1. Read all three sets.
2. Pick the one where you understand every task and have an idea for every point.
3. If it's a tie, pick the form you've practised most — usually the email.
4. Leave 5–10 minutes to check: task points, word count, endings.

More about the whole writing part in our Polish B1 writing guide.

Test yourself

Write a practice text, take a photo of the page and upload it to Oceń Tekst. The AI reads your handwriting and scores the text from 0 to 15 — with explanations in English.