B1 and B2 are both "Independent User" in the CEFR framework, and they are the two bands most job ads are actually describing when they write "good English" or "fluent" without specifying a level. B1 handles routine work independently in plain language; B2 writes clearly and in detail across a wider range of subjects, and can follow an argument without help. The gap between them is where most professional writing quality actually lives.
B1: Independent, on Familiar Ground
At B1, someone can produce simple connected text on topics that are familiar or of personal interest, and can handle most situations likely to arise in everyday work — describing a task, summarising a routine event, writing a straightforward request or update. The key word is independent: B1 does not need the sentence patterns of A2, and can generate original text rather than adapt memorised phrases.
What B1 struggles with is range and nuance. Writing outside familiar territory — a topic that has not come up before, a document that needs precision rather than approximation — tends to flatten into simpler structures than the writer would use in their first language, and a B1 explanation often reads as slightly under-detailed rather than actually wrong.
B2: Clear, Detailed, and Able to Argue a Point
B2 is a genuine step up: clear, detailed writing on a wide range of subjects, and the ability to explain a viewpoint, giving the advantages and disadvantages of different options. That last part — structured argument rather than plain description — is the real marker of B2, and it is what most professional writing actually requires: a report that recommends something, an email that persuades, a summary that weighs options rather than just lists facts.
B2 also reads comfortably: articles and reports on contemporary problems, where the writer uses a particular attitude or viewpoint, are accessible without needing every unfamiliar phrase explained. That reading fluency is what lets a B2 writer absorb source material fast enough to respond to it in kind.
What "Fluent" in a Job Ad Usually Actually Means
"Fluent English" as a job-ad phrase is doing informal work that the word does not really support. Genuine fluency — effortless, near-native range across any register — is closer to C1/C2. What most roles that write "fluent" actually need, and would be satisfied by, is B2: confident, detailed, independent written and spoken English that handles the job's normal range of topics without strain.
The mismatch matters in both directions. A candidate who reads "fluent" and assumes it means B2-and-comfortable may under-sell a genuinely strong B2/C1 level out of caution about the word. A candidate who reads it loosely and applies at B1 may be walking into a role that quietly needs more range than they currently have.
Writing It Honestly on a CV
Naming the band directly — "Professional working proficiency (CEFR B2)" — sidesteps the ambiguity that words like "fluent" or "advanced" carry, and it maps onto something a hiring reader can actually check against the role's real written demands.
It is also worth being specific about what the level covers: written English specifically, if that is what has been assessed, rather than letting a reader assume spoken ability is included. The English Proficiency test is explicit about this same boundary — it measures written English only, and a CV line should carry the same honesty.
Moving Toward C1
The step from B2 to C1 is mostly about flexibility and precision under less structured conditions: expressing ideas fluently without obviously searching for words, using language flexibly for social, academic and professional purposes, and producing well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects. It is less about new grammar and more about range holding up when the topic gets harder or the time pressure goes up.
The English Proficiency test scores grammar, vocabulary, reading and workplace usage separately across 40 questions in about 15 minutes, which shows specifically whether vocabulary range or structural precision is the more useful thing to work on next for a B1 or B2 result.