Polish B1 Exam Day — How It Runs, Hour by Hour
4 min read
The Polish state B1 exam runs over two days: on day one you sit the written part — four modules, up to 190 minutes in total — and on day two the oral part, up to 15 minutes. It is the Saturday and Sunday of the same session, so block out both days, not one.
Here is the run of it, step by step — and, at the end, an honest note about what no central rule specifies and your centre decides instead.
Day one — the written part
Four modules, 30 points each, each marked separately:
| Order | Module | Time | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Listening comprehension | ~30 min | 30 |
| 2 | Reading comprehension | ~40 min | 30 |
| 3 | Grammatical correctness | ~45 min | 30 |
| 4 | Writing | ~75 min | 30 |
| Total | up to 190 min | 120 |
Two things are worth realising long before you are in that room:
- It is a long day. More than three hours of work under time pressure — stamina is a genuine part of this exam, not a metaphor. So sit all four modules on one day, against the clock, at least once, instead of only ever practising in comfortable twenty-minute slices. That is what sample tests in the exam format are for.
- Listening comes first and you cannot go back to it. The recording plays once, at its pace, not yours. If you only really wake up by module three, you have already lost points in the least forgiving part of the day.
Day two — the oral part
The oral part lasts up to 15 minutes and is worth 40 points. How it goes:
- You draw a task set.
- You get about 5 minutes to prepare.
- The conversation opens with a short exchange with the commission, then you do three tasks:
| Item | Points |
|---|---|
| Photo description | 0–7 |
| Monologue | 0–7 |
| Communicative situation | 0–6 |
| Grammar | 0–8 |
| Vocabulary and style | 0–8 |
| Pronunciation and fluency | 0–4 |
Look at that proportion: 20 of the 40 points are not the content of the tasks at all — they are the quality of your Polish. You can complete all three prompts correctly and still miss the threshold by answering in clipped, one-sentence bursts. The cheapest points in this part come from simply speaking for longer and more calmly. How to train that: speaking in the B1 exam and describing a photo; you can record answers and get feedback in AI training.
Can you do both parts on one day?
Yes — but not automatically. The oral part may be held the same day after a break if the chair of the commission agrees, and the request must be made at least 7 days before the exam. That is a real option if you are travelling from far away or from abroad; it is not something you arrange at the door on the morning.
What the centre decides — and what we will not invent
Several of the things people ask about most are not published centrally in the materials this article rests on. Specifically:
- which identity documents you must bring on the day,
- what time to arrive and where to gather,
- what may be on your desk and what may not (phones, dictionaries, notes, drinks),
- the oral-part timetable — who is called at what time.
We are not making these rules up. They are set and announced by the exam centre you registered with, usually in candidate instructions issued before the session. Practical minimum: confirm those four points with your centre about a week ahead, and carry the same identity document you used to register.
The day before and the day after
- The day before: no new material. Go over your templates from writing and your monologue phrases, and check how you get to the centre.
- After the exam: the result and certificate take about 5–6 months. What arrives and how long it lasts: results and the certificate.
- Questions about which certificate counts (state exam vs TELC)? We answer them in the FAQ.
Session logistics, timings and rules of conduct are set by the centres and can differ — confirm them with your centre and on certyfikatpolski.pl. This is not legal advice; confirm residence or citizenship requirements with the voivodeship office handling your case.