MET Writing is 45 minutes and two parts: short responses to three questions, then an essay with multiple paragraphs. Below are practice prompts of our own for both, and a checklist for marking your own draft against the five public criteria.

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The format. Part 1: short responses to three questions · Part 2: a multi-paragraph essay supporting your ideas · 45 minutes in total · rated 0–4 on five criteria by certified raters. Source: Michigan's Test Taker Handbook and Writing Resource Pack.

These are original practice items, not real exam questions. Michigan's official Writing Resource Pack has real sample prompts and responses to compare against.

Part 1: three short responses

Answer each question separately and completely, in a sentence or a short paragraph.

Set A — Your neighbourhood

  1. What do you like most about the area where you live?
  2. How do you usually get around your neighbourhood?
  3. Would you recommend your neighbourhood to a friend? Why or why not?

Set B — Learning

  1. What is the most useful thing you have learned in the past year?
  2. Who has helped you learn it?
  3. What would you like to learn next, and why?
What a strong set of answers covers
  • Answers each question directly in the first sentence
  • Adds a reason or detail rather than stopping at one line
  • Treats the three as separate answers, with none skipped
  • Stays on the question asked rather than drifting to a favourite topic

Part 2: the essay

Plan for a couple of minutes, then write in clear paragraphs.

  • Some people think exercising regularly is essential for a healthy life. Others think it takes too much time. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages and give your own opinion.
  • Should students be required to do volunteer work as part of their studies? Support your answer with reasons and examples.
What a strong essay covers
  • A clear position stated early and held to the end
  • Two or three developed reasons, each with an example
  • Paragraphs with an introduction, a body and a conclusion
  • Linking words that show how ideas connect, used accurately

Mark your own draft

Use Michigan's five criteria as a checklist:

  1. Grammatical Accuracy — are sentences controlled, and do errors get in the way?
  2. Vocabulary — is the range right for the task, and are words used appropriately?
  3. Mechanics — spelling, punctuation, capitalisation, sentence boundaries. It is its own criterion, so proofread.
  4. Cohesion and Organization — do ideas connect, and is the response organised?
  5. Task Completion — did you do what the task asked, with supporting detail?

For how ratings become a 0–80 score, see how MET is scored.

Attempt these with real scoring

A checklist helps, but it is hard to rate your own writing. Practise MET Writing with scoring on ScoreFluent — You get an Examiner report (paid with credits) and AI tutor Flo on every result. MET practice is free to start. Results are practice estimates, not official MET scores.

More on the format: MET Writing, two tasks in 45 minutes. ScoreFluent is an independent practice platform and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to Michigan Language Assessment.

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