Aptis Writing: Practice Test 2
Here’s another Aptis writing test with model answers. As we explained before, we’ve written these answers at a high level – B2.2 – in order to help you improve.
As you know, there are four parts to the Aptis writing test, always based around the same theme (joining a club, doing a course, becoming part of an activity group, etc). These four parts get more difficult as the test progresses. Let’s remind ourselves of what you have to do in each part.
- Part One answers are at word-level; you have to write one to five words in no more than three minutes.
- In Part Two we’ve progressed to sentence-level answers; you must write 20-30 words (two or three sentences) in no more than seven minutes.
- For Part Three you have to write three short texts of 30-40 words each in no more than ten minutes.
- Finally, in Part Four you must write an informal email of 40-50 words and a formal email of 120-150 words. You should aim to do both of these in no more than thirty minutes.
That adds up to the 50-minute total. However, you should always try to leave a few minutes free at the end of the test. This is so you can look through your work for any obvious mistakes. That’s why our suggested timings say no more than X minutes. Ideally, aim for up to a minute less in each part.
We used the theme of joining a film club in Writing Practice Test 1. For Test 2, the theme is joining a food club.
We strongly recommend you to do the test yourself before looking at the writing test with model answers. For this reason, we’re going to give you the blank exam paper first. Try to do the test within exam timing.
Aptis Writing: Practice Test 2
Part One (up to three minutes)
You want to join ‘Food from around the world club’, and you have 5 messages from a member of the club. Write short replies (1-5 words) to each message.
- How are you?
- Where are you from?
- What’s your favourite season?
- What’s your favourite animal?
- How many people are there in your family?
Part Two (up to seven minutes)
You are now a member of ‘Food from around the World’ club. Please tell us why you are interested in food. Use 20–30 words.
Part Three (up to ten minutes)
You are in the ‘Food from around the world club’ chat room. Answer the questions from other members. Use 30-40 words per answer.
Tim: Hi, and welcome to the club! What types of food do you like cooking?
Anita: What’s the best restaurant you’ve been to? What was it like?
Kofi: What’s the worst restaurant you’ve ever been to?
Part Four (up to thirty minutes)
As a member of ‘Food from around the World’ club, you receive this email:
Dear Member
We are writing to inform you that the TV chef Jay Goffery won’t be able to attend the club’s annual meeting due to an administrative error. Unfortunately he has been double-booked on the 19th May. We suggest changing the date of the meeting to the following week, so that he can join us as planned. Please let me know whether this arrangement would be satisfactory to you.
Regards
Tyrone O’ Neal
Task 1: Write an email to your friend. Write about your feelings and what you think the ‘Food from around the World’ club should do about the situation. Write 40–50 words. You have 10 minutes.
Task 2: Write an email to the president of the club. Write about your feelings and what you think ‘Food from around the World’ club should do about the situation. Write 120-150 words. You have 20 minutes.
When you’ve finished writing, check through your work. Look for:
- spelling and punctuation mistakes
- grammar mistakes (for example tenses, 3rd person ‘s’ endings, wrong preposition)
- correct use of paragraphs
- correct word counts
Now watch John explaining the writing test with model answers and giving you more ideas. You can turn the subtitles on if you want – we’ve done them ourselves, so they’re correct!
You’ll find the script below the video.
Aptis Writing Test 2 with Model Answers: Script
Part One
You want to join ‘Food from around the world club’, and you have 5 messages from a member of the club. Write short replies (1-5 words) to each message.
- How are you? I’m fine, thanks.
- Where are you from? I was born in Manchester.
- What’s your favourite season? I really like autumn.
- What’s your favourite animal? I love dolphins!
- How many people are in your family? There are five of us*.
Tips: Try to use all five words, and use conversational and informal expressions. *Make sure you use this phrase correctly (we don’t say ‘We are five’).
Part Two
You are now a member of ‘Food from around the World’ club. Please tell us why you are interested in food. Use 20–30 words.
My grandmother used to do the cooking, and I loved helping her in the kitchen. I also love travelling, and I’m really into trying food from different countries.
Tip: Try to avoid repetition of language in the question by using synonyms. For example: be into = be interested in.
Part Three
You are in the ‘Food from around the world club’ chat room. Answer the questions from other members. Use 30-40 words per answer.
Tim: Hi, and welcome to the club! What types of food do you like cooking?
I really enjoy trying to follow my grandmother’s recipes. She’s Nigerian and makes amazing dishes using yams and plantain. Recently I’ve also been experimenting with herbs and spices and different kinds of sauces.
Anita: What’s the best restaurant you’ve been to? What was it like?
I’d have to say The Black Swan, a curry house in Bradford. The décor makes you feel as if you’re really in India, and they specialise in South Indian dishes. The Goan fish curry is to die for!
Kofi: What’s the worst restaurant you’ve ever been to?
It was The Friendly Fish in Blackpool. The service was absolutely appalling. I had to wait 25 minutes for my meal. Then when it finally arrived, the chips were cold and greasy and the fish was frozen in the middle!
Tip: Try to use vocabulary specific to the topic. For example: recipes, dishes, herbs, spices, sauces, curry, service, meal, greasy, frozen
Part Four
As a member of ‘Food from around the World’ club, you receive this email:
Dear Member
We are writing to inform you that the TV chef Jay Goffery won’t be able to attend the club’s annual meeting due to an administrative error. Unfortunately he has been double-booked on the 19th May. We suggest changing the date of the meeting to the following week, so that he can join us as planned. Please let me know whether this arrangement would be satisfactory to you.
Regards
Tyrone O’ Neal
Task 1: Write an email to your friend. Write about your feelings and what you think the ‘Food from around the World’ club should do about the situation. Write 40–50 words. You have 10 minutes.
Hi Dave,
I’ve just read the email from Tyrone and I’m a bit annoyed. I’m not keen on putting off the meeting, as I won’t be around on the 26th. I think they should stick to the date, or look for a different chef. What do you reckon?
Cheers,
John
Task 2: Write an email to the president of the club. Write about your feelings and what you think ‘Food from around the World’ club should do about the situation. Write 120-150 words. You have 20 minutes.
Dear Mr. O’Neal,
I am writing to express my real disappointment at hearing the news that Jay Goffery will not be able to attend our annual meeting on the 19th. I am afraid I do not find your proposed solution acceptable, and I will explain why. If the meeting is postponed to the following week I will not be able to attend, as I will already have left for my holiday.
Therefore I would like to put forward an alternative suggestion. In my opinion, you should you write to Jay to ask him to cancel his other engagement and honour our original arrangement. If I remember correctly, he confirmed this date with us nearly a year ago. If he refuses, perhaps we should consider approaching another celebrity chef.
I look forward to hearing your reply.
Yours sincerely,
John Harrop
Tips: As we said before, make sure you stick to the word count and answer the question in both cases. It’s very important to demonstrate that you understand the difference between an informal and a formal style. Let’s look at some aspects to consider:
Informal: greetings (Hi, Hi there), use contractions (I’m, I’ll etc), be direct (I’m annoyed), paragraphs aren’t important, signing off (Best, Cheers, See you, Bye)
Formal: greetings (Dear Mr/Ms X), use full forms (I am, I will etc), be more tentative (I am afraid …), paragraphs are very important, signing off (Kind regards, Best wishes, Yours sincerely)
After watching this writing test with model answers
You can always refer to the Overview of the Writing Test for more detailed information.
Make sure you’ve also done Writing Practice Test 1.
Don’t miss our Top Tips for passing the Writing Test!
And you’ll find links to all the free exam materials in our Guide to the Posts.
Really useful! When’s the next one coming?
Thanks a lot for taking the time to reply. The next writing post will be on the Aptis Advanced as there isn’t a lot of material out there, but come back in a couple of weeks and we’ll have more writing tests for the Aptis General.
You both are doing great for us! It’s super useful for the candidates. Thanks a million.
Hi Nusrat, That’s lovely to hear – thanks for taking the time to tell us! Good luck with your studies! 😘😊
Thank you for your writings samples and videos. They are so helpful and your comments on every exam questions are very interesting.
Hi José Pablo, We’re really glad to hear that! Good luck with your studies, and thanks for taking the time to give us feedback! 👍🏻😘