FSOA Written Exercise practice
Practise the Foreign Service Written Exercise
6 Embassy briefings, one for each career track plus a mixed one. Read the documents, write your recommendation to the Ambassador against the clock, then compare it with a model memo and a checklist built on the State Department's published competencies. Briefing 1 is free.
Format note: no official page gives the Written Exercise's length or format. The 45-minute, briefing-then-recommendation format is reported by an independent guide; the State Department says the stage tests critical thinking and clear writing.
Political. You are a political officer at the U.S. Embassy in Marenia, a coastal democracy and long-standing U.S. partner.
Your task: Write a memo to the Ambassador recommending what the United States should do about the proposed Port of Velara lease, and how the Embassy should approach it before the parliamentary vote.
Document 1 — Embassy cable summary
Marenia's Ministry of Transport has agreed in principle to lease the deep-water Port of Velara for 30 years to Orbis Maritime, a state-owned company of a strategic competitor of the United States. Orbis would invest $1.2 billion in new berths and a container terminal. The lease goes to a parliamentary vote in 10 days; it needs a simple majority of the 120 seats. The governing coalition holds 64 seats. U.S. Navy ships have made 11 port calls at Velara in the past three years under a standing access arrangement that the lease does not mention.
Document 2 — Figures from the Ministry of Transport
| Item | Figure |
|---|---|
| Orbis investment pledged | $1.2 billion |
| Jobs promised during construction | 4,000 |
| Permanent jobs after construction | 900 |
| Share of Marenia's container trade through Velara today | 38% |
| Lease length | 30 years, renewable once |
Document 3 — Notes from meetings this week
Deputy Speaker Ana Corvel (coalition, Labour Union Party, 9 seats): "We need the jobs. Nobody else offered money for Velara. If there were another bidder, my party would listen." Opposition leader Teo Varga: "The terms are secret. We will vote no unless the contract is published." A senior port official, speaking privately and not authorised to do so, said the contract lets Orbis "refuse any vessel for operational reasons". This has not been confirmed in writing.
Document 4 — From Washington
Washington wants Marenia to keep Velara open to U.S. ships and to choose open, transparent tenders for strategic infrastructure. A U.S.-led consortium of private port operators told the Department last year it would consider Velara "if the tender were open". Washington does not want the Embassy to threaten Marenia publicly.
0 words · saved on this device
All 6 briefings
Practise the Written Exercise before your invitation arrives
- 6 timed briefings, one for each career track plus a mixed one
- A model recommendation memo for each, with the reasoning set out
- A pass checklist built on the State Department's published competencies
- Written feedback on your own memos: what works, what to fix first, facts check
Once invited, you sit it on one date in a 5-day window (Pearson VUE). There is little time to start then.
Also preparing for the oral assessment? After the FSOT prep adds the knowledge kit and the negotiation and interview practice kit, and you can try a free typed mock session of the interview.
Before you buy
What is the Written Exercise?
Since 1 April 2026 the State Department has used a Written Examination after the FSOT, because “the ability to think critically and write clear prose continues to be an essential skill”. Pearson VUE calls it the Written Exercise: invited candidates sit it on one date in a 5-day window named in their invitation letter, at a test center or online. Within two weeks of it, Pearson sends the invitation to the Structured Interview and Negotiation Exercise.
Is this the official format?
No official page gives the Written Exercise's length or format. An independent guide reports 45 minutes to read briefing materials on a foreign-policy situation and write a recommendation on what the United States should do and how the Embassy should approach it. These briefings practise that task; if the official format turns out to differ, the skills it practises (reading fast, deciding, writing a clear recommendation) still apply.
What do I get?
6 briefings, each with the setting, the task and three or four documents (cables, figures, notes); a 45-minute clock; a box to write your memo, saved on your device; a model memo; a checklist to mark your memo against; and up to 24 runs of automated written feedback on your own memos, telling you what works, the three things to fix first, and any figure you got wrong.
Are the briefings real?
No. Every country, person and figure is fictional, so no answer depends on knowing current events. What is real is the task: decide, recommend, and write it clearly for a busy reader.