B2 Upper-Intermediate English
A complete B2 course for sustained independent communication: argument, nuance, extended listening and reading, complex grammar, natural conversation and accurate writing across social, academic and professional contexts.
B2 outcomes
At B2, learners should be able to understand the main ideas of complex texts, interact with reasonable fluency and spontaneity, produce clear detailed language on a wide range of topics and explain viewpoints with advantages, disadvantages and supporting reasons.
Speaking
Develop arguments, compare perspectives, negotiate meaning and interact naturally.
Reading & listening
Follow extended argument, recognise attitude and understand common implicit meaning.
Writing
Essays, reviews, reports and formal/informal emails with controlled register and paragraphing.
Unit 1 — Perfect aspect in depth
Present perfect simple vs continuous
Both forms connect past activity to the present, but they organise the information differently.
| Simple | Continuous |
|---|---|
| Focus on result, completion or number: I've written three reports. | Focus on duration/activity/process: I've been writing reports all morning. |
| Common with stative verbs: I've known her for years. | Usually with dynamic verbs: I've been waiting for an hour. |
Answers
1) I've read 2) I've been looking
Unit 2 — Modal perfects
Deduction, criticism and possibility in the past
| Form | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| must have + pp | strong past deduction | She must have forgotten. |
| might/may/could have + pp | past possibility | He might have missed the train. |
| can't/couldn't have + pp | strong negative deduction | They can't have seen us. |
| should have + pp | criticism/unfulfilled expectation | You should have told me. |
Unit 3 — Third and mixed conditionals
Counterfactual past and present consequences
Third conditional: if + past perfect, would have + past participle. It imagines a different past: If we'd left earlier, we would have caught the train.
Mixed conditional: links different time frames: If I had accepted that job, I would live in Berlin now.
Answer
If I had studied engineering, I could apply for this role now.
Unit 4 — Wish, if only and hypothetical distance
Regret and desired change
I wish I knew = present unreal situation. I wish I had known = past regret. I wish you would stop interrupting = desire for another person's behaviour to change.
If only is usually more emphatic. I'd rather you came tomorrow uses past form for present/future preference.
Possible answers
1) I wish I'd taken the opportunity. 2) I wish my neighbour would stop making so much noise.
Unit 5 — Advanced passive and causatives
Passive reporting and have/get something done
Reporting passives allow formal impersonal statements: It is believed that the company will expand. / The company is believed to be planning an expansion.
Causative: I had my phone repaired means another person repaired it for me. We're getting the office painted next week.
Answer
is said to live in Spain
Unit 6 — Relative clauses beyond the basics
Non-defining, prepositions and reduced forms
Non-defining clauses add extra information and use commas: My brother, who lives in Dublin, is visiting. Do not normally use that here.
Formal preposition placement: The person to whom I spoke… More conversational: The person I spoke to…
Reduction: People living nearby complained (= people who live nearby). The documents submitted yesterday… (= documents that were submitted).
Unit 7 — Participle clauses
Condensing information
Participle clauses can express time, reason or result: Having finished the report, she went home. / Feeling tired, he left early.
Answer
Having reviewed the figures, she presented her recommendation.
Unit 8 — Reporting verbs
Verb + pattern
| Pattern | Examples |
|---|---|
| verb + -ing | admit, deny, suggest, recommend |
| verb + to-infinitive | agree, offer, promise, refuse |
| verb + object + to-infinitive | advise, encourage, remind, warn |
| verb + preposition + -ing | accuse someone of, apologise for, insist on |
Answer
me to apply earlier
Unit 9 — Hedging and degrees of certainty
Sounding accurate rather than absolute
Advanced speakers calibrate claims. Compare: This policy will fail with This policy is likely to face significant difficulties. Useful forms: tends to, appears to, seems to, may, might, is likely to, arguably, to some extent.
Possible answer
Heavy social-media use may contribute to reduced sustained attention in some contexts.
Unit 10 — Discourse and cohesive control
Building connected argument
Cohesion is not just adding linkers. It comes from logical progression, reference and lexical connection. Use linkers selectively: however, therefore, whereas, although, in contrast, as a result, nevertheless.
Reference devices include this issue, these findings, such changes, the former/the latter. Overusing moreover/furthermore can make writing mechanical.
Unit 11 — Natural spoken interaction
Turn-taking, softening and repair
| Function | Useful language |
|---|---|
| Enter a discussion | Can I come in on that point? |
| Soften disagreement | I see what you mean, though I'm not sure that… |
| Clarify | Do you mean that…? |
| Repair | Sorry, that's not quite what I meant. What I mean is… |
| Buy time | Let me think about that for a second. |
Unit 12 — Register
Informal, neutral and formal English
Register depends on audience and purpose. Compare: Can you send me the file? (neutral) / Could you please forward the revised file by 3 p.m.? (professional) / Gimme the file (very informal and potentially rude).
Formal writing often uses fewer phrasal verbs, more precise nouns and more impersonal structures, but clarity is more important than sounding “advanced”.
Listening: attitude and implication
I wouldn't say the new system has been a failure. It has certainly reduced the amount of paperwork, which was one of the main aims. The problem is that staff now spend more time correcting information that customers enter incorrectly. So the workload hasn't disappeared; it has simply moved to a different stage of the process.
Answers
1) No. 2) Less paperwork. 3) Work has shifted rather than genuinely decreased.
Writing workshop: balanced essay
Final B2 checkpoint
Answers
1) been working 2) can't 3) would have come 4) hadn't said 5) to be resigning / to resign 6) living 7) taking 8) However
Sources and level alignment
Original Corrigan School material. Communicative outcomes follow CEFR B2 progression; grammar sequencing is cross-checked against British Council B1–B2 grammar and Cambridge Dictionary grammar references.