Level 2, without the cramming.

Of all the WSET Level 2 exam tips, the most useful is also the least glamorous: study to the weighting. The exam is a closed-book paper of 50 multiple-choice questions in 60 minutes. In the current specification, 31 of those questions are about grape varieties. Know where the main varieties grow and what shapes their style and most of the marks are within reach.

This is an independent plan, not guidance from the Wine & Spirit Education Trust. It covers the format, a timetable of six to eight weeks, the study methods that work and technique for the day itself. Check the current specification on the WSET website before you start, because details can change.

The exam at a glance

• Format. 50 multiple-choice questions in 60 minutes, closed book.
• Grades. A pass from 55%, a merit from 70% and a distinction from 85%.
• Tasting. Taught on the course but not examined at this level. The specification is clear that choosing not to taste alcohol is no barrier to passing.
• Time. The specification sets a total of 28 hours, including 11 hours of private study and the one-hour exam. Plan those private hours into your week from the start.

The specification also shows how the 50 questions are spread across its six learning outcomes:

• Principal grape varieties. 19 questions.
• Regionally important grape varieties. 12 questions.
• Sparkling and fortified wines. 6 questions.
• Environmental influences and grape-growing. 5 questions.
• Winemaking and bottle ageing. 4 questions.
• Storage, service and food pairing. 4 questions.

A study plan of six to eight weeks

Six weeks works if you already know some wine. Eight is more comfortable if you are starting from scratch. Run the plan alongside your course rather than after it. The version below runs to eight weeks; for six, give the foundations and the principal varieties one week less each.

1. Weeks 1 and 2: the foundations. How climate, the vineyard and winemaking shape a wine's style. Start a flashcard deck on the first day and add to it after every session.
2. Weeks 3 to 5: the eight principal varieties. Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio or Gris, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir and Syrah or Shiraz. For each one, learn where it grows, how a cool or warm climate changes it and the label terms of the key countries.
3. Week 6: the regionally important varieties. The specification lists 22 of them, from Gamay and Tempranillo to Albariño and Furmint. Group them by country so that each one sits on a mental map.
4. Week 7: sparkling, sweet and fortified wines, then storage, service and food pairing. Short topics that repay the time.
5. The final week: timed practice. Full papers under exam conditions, then a careful review of every mistake.

What to master

Many of the questions reward understanding more than memory. If you know that a cool climate gives grapes higher acidity and lighter body, you can answer questions about regions you have barely studied. Build every topic on cause and effect: climate and site, then vineyard choices, then winemaking, then the style in the glass.

Take Chardonnay. From a cool region it tends towards green apple, citrus and high acidity; from a warm one, towards riper stone and tropical fruit with more body. Winemaking then adds its own layer. Oak brings vanilla and toast, while malolactic conversion softens the acidity and can add a buttery note. Learn one grape as a chain like this and the others follow the same pattern.

Learn the structure words properly, because they recur across every topic. Know what acidity in wine does, how tannin feels and where it comes from and how body and alcohol relate. The same logic answers questions on sweet wines, on sparkling wines and on food pairing.

Labelling terms deserve their own flashcards. A question can turn on a single word on a label. Those words are pure recall: either you have drilled them or you have not.

Three habits cost easy marks:

• Learning regions without their grapes. A region only matters with its variety, climate and style attached.
• Skipping the small topics. Storage, service and food pairing carry four questions and are among the quickest topics to learn.
• Leaving practice papers to the end. Timed questions from the second week show your gaps while there is still time to close them.

How to study so it sticks

• Test yourself instead of rereading. Close the book and write down what you remember, then check. Rereading feels productive but teaches far less.
• Space it out. Review flashcards a little every day, at growing intervals. Twenty minutes daily beats a four-hour weekend session.
• Practise at exam pace. The paper allows 60 minutes for 50 questions, a little over a minute each. Do blocks of questions against the clock from the second week onwards.
• Review every wrong answer. Write one line on why the right answer is right and why yours was wrong. Your mistakes are the most accurate map of what to study next.

Rereading tells you what you recognise; testing yourself tells you what you know.

Our own Level 2 app, Worth Opening: WSET Level 2, follows the same approach: twenty mock exams with explanations, a record of the questions you got wrong and flashcards that come back when they are due. Independent study aid. Not affiliated with, endorsed by or approved by the Wine & Spirit Education Trust.

Tasting as a memory aid

Tasting is not examined, but it is the best memory aid you have. A fact you have tasted is much harder to forget than one you have only read. Taste the principal varieties side by side, ideally a cool-climate and a warm-climate example of the same grape. Then describe the difference in acidity, body and fruit, out loud or on paper.

Use the tasting method taught on the course. At home, a simple four-step tasting method keeps your practice consistent. Keep pours small, spit when you are tasting several wines and keep water on the table. For a quick check of your general knowledge between sessions, try the free 60-question wine quiz.

WSET Level 2 exam tips for the day itself

• Read the whole question and every option before you choose. Several options can look right at first glance.
• Eliminate. Rule out what you know is wrong and choose between what remains.
• Keep moving. If a question stalls you, note its number, move on and come back at the end.
• Watch the clock. At 30 minutes you should be around question 25.
• Leave no blanks. The specification confirms that no marks are taken off for a wrong answer, so make an informed guess.

Arrive rested rather than crammed. The flashcards you reviewed across eight weeks will serve you far better than anything read on the morning.

Your first week

Fix the exam date with your course provider, then count back from it and write your weekly plan on a single page. Set up the flashcard deck, schedule two tastings with friends and do one short timed block of questions before the week is out, even if you get most of them wrong. It will show you how the questions are built.

If you enjoy the course, Level 3 is the natural next step and a different kind of exam, with written answers and a blind tasting paper. We cover it in preparing for the Level 3 exam.