CEFR B2 · Upper-Intermediate

B2 English - Upper-Intermediate

Argument, register and the whole conditional system. The level that opens English-speaking universities.

Levels: 12
Grammar points: 81
Active vocabulary: ≈4,000 words
Certified by: Cambridge B2 First (FCE) · IELTS 5.5–6.5 · TOEFL iBT 72–94

Where B2 counts. The level most universities in the UK, the US, Canada and Australia ask for on an undergraduate application.

What you can do at B2

Understand complex text, including technical discussion in your own field.
Interact with native speakers fluently enough that neither side strains.
Argue a position, weigh options and defend a viewpoint in writing.
Handle the passive, reported speech and mixed conditionals without stopping to think.

Story length

600–1000 words · 10–15 pages

Typical study time

500–600 guided hours

English you meet here

nevertheless · undermine · had I known

Study-time figures are the guided-hour ranges commonly published by English language schools, counted cumulatively from zero. They describe a classroom average, not a promise.

Why B2 is the level it is

B2 is the level the world actually asks for. Universities want it, employers assume it, and it is where you stop translating and start thinking in the language for stretches at a time. The grammar left to learn is finite and mostly about distance: hypotheticals you do not believe, regrets about the past, reported claims you are not endorsing, and the passive used not to hide the agent but to put the important thing first.

The mixed conditional is a good marker for the level. If I had studied medicine, I would be a doctor now reaches back to an unreal past and forward to an unreal present inside one sentence, and getting it right means holding two counterfactual timeframes at once. That is a thinking skill as much as a grammar point, which is why B2 takes longer than the levels below it despite containing fewer new forms.

The other B2 shift is vocabulary, and its shape is peculiar to English. Because the language absorbed a Latin layer on top of a Germanic core, most concepts come in pairs - buy and purchase, ask and enquire, go up and increase. At B2 you are expected to know both halves and to choose deliberately. Speakers of Romance languages get the Latin half nearly free and tend to overshoot into stiffness; everyone else has to build it.

The B2 curriculum, unit by unit

12 levels and 81 grammar points, in the order Leo teaches them. Each unit lists its must-know forms with a real example - the supporting points are covered inside the stories.

B2.1 Advanced Tense System 6 points

Past perfect continuous

I had been working for hours when she called. | They had been waiting since 2pm. | How long had you been living there before you moved?

Tenses

Future perfect

I will have finished by 6. | By 2030, they will have built the new airport. | She won't have arrived yet.

Tenses

Future perfect continuous

By June, I'll have been working here for 5 years. | By the time she finishes, she'll have been studying for 8 hours.

Tenses
B2.2 Tenses: Nuance & Special Uses 5 points

Was/were going to (unfulfilled past intentions)

I was going to call you but I forgot. | She was going to come but she fell ill.

Tenses

Be about to + infinitive

I'm about to leave. | The film is about to start. | I was about to call when you arrived.

Tenses

Tend to + infinitive (habitual)

I tend to wake up early. | Prices tend to rise in summer.

Tenses
B2.3 Modal Deduction: Present & Past 6 points

Must/can't for deduction (present)

She must be at home. (= I'm sure she is) | He can't be serious. (= I'm sure he isn't) | They must be tired after the journey.

Modals

May/might/could for speculation

She might have left already. | He could be anywhere. | It may not be true.

Modals

Must have (past deduction)

He must have forgotten. | She must have been very happy. | They must have left early.

Modals

Can't have / couldn't have (past impossible)

She can't have said that. | He couldn't have known. | They can't have arrived already.

Modals
B2.4 Modals: Preference & Necessity Nuance 5 points

Would rather + bare infinitive

I'd rather stay. | I'd rather not go. | Would you rather have tea or coffee?

Modals

Would rather + subject + past tense

I'd rather you didn't tell anyone. | She'd rather we stayed. | I'd rather you came tomorrow.

Modals

Needn't have vs didn't need to

I needn't have bought it. (I bought it, but it was unnecessary) | I didn't need to buy it. (so I didn't, or maybe I did)

Modals
B2.5 Mixed Conditionals & Unreal Structures 4 points

Mixed conditionals: 2nd + 3rd

If I were taller, I would have played basketball. (general condition → past result) | If she spoke English, she would have got the job.

Conditionals

Mixed conditionals: 3rd + 2nd

If I had studied medicine, I would be a doctor now. (past condition → present result) | If we had booked earlier, we would be on the plane now.

Conditionals
B2.6 Wish, If Only & Unreal Past 6 points

Wish + past simple (present unreal)

I wish I knew the answer. | I wish I had more time. | She wishes she lived closer.

Conditionals

Wish + past perfect (past regret)

I wish I had gone. | She wishes she hadn't said that. | I wish I had studied harder.

Conditionals

Wish + would (complaint/desire for change)

I wish you would stop making noise. | I wish it would stop raining. | She wishes he would listen.

Conditionals
B2.7 Advanced Passive Voice 7 points

Passive with continuous tenses

The house is being built. | The road was being repaired when I drove past.

Passive

Past perfect passive

The letter had been sent before I arrived. | The food had already been prepared.

Passive

Double passive (two objects)

I was given a present. = A present was given to me. | She was told the news. = The news was told to her.

Passive
B2.8 Reported Speech & Reporting Verbs (Advanced) 4 points

Reporting verbs with different patterns

admit + -ing, suggest + -ing, deny + -ing | advise + obj + inf, warn + obj + inf | insist on + -ing, refuse + inf, offer + inf, threaten + inf, promise + inf

Reported Speech

Reported speech: optional tense shift

She said she likes/liked coffee. (still true = optional shift) | He said the earth is/was round.

Reported Speech

Reported speech with modals

will→would, can→could, may→might | would/could/might/should → no change | 'I'll come' → He said he would come.

Reported Speech
B2.9 Relative Clauses & Articles (Advanced) 10 points

Non-defining relative clauses

My brother, who lives in London, is a doctor. | Paris, which is the capital of France, is beautiful. | Commas required; that NOT possible.

Relative Clauses

Which referring to whole clause

He passed the exam, which surprised everyone. | She resigned, which I thought was a mistake.

Relative Clauses

What-clauses (nominal relative)

What I need is a holiday. | I don't understand what you mean. | What happened was unbelievable.

Relative Clauses
B2.10 Verb Patterns & Participle Clauses 11 points

Verb + object + -ing (perception)

I saw him crossing the road. | I could hear someone singing. | She caught me reading her diary.

Verb Patterns

Perception verbs + object + bare infinitive

I saw him cross the road. (complete action) | I heard her leave. | I watched them play.

Verb Patterns

Noun forms from phrasal verbs

a breakdown, a takeoff, an outbreak, a setback, a breakthrough, input, output, outcome

Phrasal Verbs

Present participle clause

Walking home, I saw an accident. (= While I was walking) | Being a student, she has little money. (= Because she is)

Participle Clauses
B2.11 Phrasal Verbs, Conjunctions & Emphasis 11 points

Three-word phrasal verbs

look forward to, put up with, get on with, come up with, get rid of, run out of, keep up with, make up for, look down on, look up to, get away with, cut down on

Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal verbs in passive

The meeting was called off. | He was looked after. | The problem was dealt with.

Phrasal Verbs

Emphasis with do/does/did

I DO like it! | She DOES work hard. | I DID tell you.

Emphasis

It-cleft sentences

It was John who told me. | It was in Paris that we met. | It's the noise that bothers me.

Emphasis
B2.12 Determiners, Pronouns & Inversion (Intro) 6 points

Determiners: several, various, numerous, a number of, a great deal of

several people, various reasons, a number of problems, a great deal of effort

Determiners

each other vs one another

They love each other. | We help one another. | (In practice, interchangeable in modern English)

Pronouns

whatever / whoever / wherever / whenever / however

Whatever you decide, I'll support you. | Whoever said that was wrong. | However hard I try, I can't do it.

Pronouns

The app

Leo teaches B2 by reading

The roadmap on this page is not a chart we drew for the article - it is the syllabus the app is built on. Leo takes you from your first sentence to reading the press without a dictionary, one story at a time.

Stories, not drills

Every level is taught through illustrated stories written at that level - short at A1, full pages of natural prose by C1. You learn English the way you learned to read: by reading something you want to finish.

Tap any word

Translation, pronunciation and the grammar behind the form, on the word itself. No dictionary in another tab, no losing the thread of the sentence to look something up.

A real curriculum underneath

51 levels and 395 grammar points from A1 to C1, in the order they build on each other. The stories are ordered by that curriculum, so a form is always introduced before it is used again.

Download on the App Store GET IT ON Google Play

Be told the day it lands

The app is in development. One e-mail, on launch day - that is the whole deal.

One e-mail, on launch day. No newsletter, no drip campaign.

How to actually get through B2

Read outside your comfort subject

By B2 you can read about what you already know, and that is a trap: your background knowledge is filling gaps your English is not. Read something you have no expertise in and see what falls apart. That is your real level.

Collect collocations, not words

You already know make and decision. The B2 item is that they go together, and that do a decision is wrong for no reason anyone can explain. Nothing separates a B2 writer from a C1 one more than which words they put next to each other.

Argue in writing, do not just describe

B2 exams and B2 jobs both want a position defended, a counter-argument acknowledged and a conclusion that follows. Practise the shape: concede, counter, conclude. It is a structure, and structures can be rehearsed.

Watch without subtitles, then with

First pass for the shape, second for what you missed. At B2 subtitles stop being a support and become a crutch: you read them instead of listening, and your ear stops improving while your eyes do fine.

B2 English - frequently asked questions

Do I need B2 English for university?

Almost always, and it is usually expressed as an IELTS band rather than a CEFR level: 6.0 to 6.5 overall is the common undergraduate and taught-postgraduate requirement in the UK and Australia, with TOEFL iBT 72–94 covering the same range. Some courses set a higher minimum per component. Check the specific programme, not the university.

How long does B2 take?

Cambridge puts B2 at roughly 500 to 600 cumulative guided hours from zero, so the B1-to-B2 step costs around 150 to 200 hours on top of what B1 cost. Most learners find it the slowest level, because the gains are in precision and range rather than in new capability - you can already say the thing; you are learning to say it well.

Which exam certifies B2?

B2 First from Cambridge is the direct qualification, and the certificate does not expire. IELTS 5.5–6.5 and TOEFL iBT 72–94 map onto the same band but are usually accepted only for two years. For a university application the institution decides which it wants, so ask before you book.

Is B2 enough to work in English?

For most jobs, yes. B2 means you can follow a meeting, argue a position and write a clear report, which covers the majority of professional work. Where it is not enough is anything where the language itself is the product - law, editing, negotiation, senior sales - and roles with a regulated bar, like nursing, which asks for IELTS 7.0.

What is a mixed conditional?

A conditional whose two halves sit in different timeframes. If I had studied medicine, I would be a doctor now pairs an unreal past with an unreal present; If I were more organised, I would have finished it does the reverse. They are B2 rather than B1 because you have to keep two counterfactuals straight, not because the forms themselves are new.

Previous level

B1 - Intermediate

Next level

C1 - Advanced

The whole roadmap: 51 levels, 395 grammar points

Leo teaches B2 through illustrated stories written at B2. The app is in development - we will write once, on launch day.

One e-mail, on launch day. No newsletter, no drip campaign.

See all five levels, A1 to C1