Practice the Foreign Service Written Exercise
Read a short Embassy briefing, then write your recommendation to the Ambassador against a 45-minute clock. Compare it with a model memo and a pass checklist.
- Model memo for each
- Pass checklist
- 5-day window once invited
- 1Read the briefingcables, figures, notes
- 2Write to the Ambassador45-minute clock
- 3Comparemodel memo and checklist
- 6 timed fictional embassy briefings, each with a model memo and a checklist
- Up to 24 written feedback runs on your own memos, rewrites included
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 that briefing's own checklist. 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.
Next step
Unlock the Written Exercise pack: all 6 briefings
- 6 timed fictional embassy briefings, each with a model memo and a checklist
- Up to 24 written feedback runs on your own memos, rewrites included
Once invited, you sit it on one date in a 5-day window (Pearson VUE). There is little time to start then.
7-day refund, no questions asked · Don’t pass? Free prep for your next attempt. The guarantee
Every briefing, scenario and model answer was reviewed before release. How we check ›
Feedback in minutes, not days. Practice at 2 a.m. if you want.
Also preparing for the oral assessment? FSOA Complete adds negotiation and interview practice, typed mock sessions, the knowledge kit and the clearance checklist, with these briefings included. You can try a free typed mock interview first.
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.
Disclaimer
Independent study site, not affiliated with the State Department or Pearson VUE.