WSET Level 1 Sake · Exam guide
What's actually on the WSET Level 1 Award in Sake exam
If you've never sat a WSET exam before, here's what to expect on exam day — before you get into practice questions.
The WSET Level 1 Award in Sake is the entry point into WSET's sake qualifications. It assumes no prior sake knowledge, and it's designed to be finished in a single day of study for most candidates, including the exam itself.
Format
The exam is 30 multiple-choice questions, to be completed in 45 minutes. Each question has one correct answer among the options given — there's no negative marking, so an educated guess is always better than leaving a question blank. You need 70% correct to pass, and the result is a straightforward pass or fail — there's no merit or distinction grade at this level (WSET's sake qualifications skip straight from Level 1 to Level 3, so grading stays pass/fail throughout Level 1).
What it covers
Level 1 is built around a simple idea: understand sake well enough to talk about it, serve it, and pair it with food. Broadly, expect questions from across these areas:
How sake is made
The main ingredients — rice, kōji, yeast, and water — and the basic production steps, from rice preparation through to pasteurisation, that turn them into sake.
Sake categories and styles
The difference between everyday table sake (futsū-shu) and the premium grades — honjōzō, ginjō, and daiginjō, including junmai versions of each — plus specialty styles like nigori, sparkling, koshu, and nama, and the Japanese labelling terms that identify them.
Storage, service, and food pairing
How sake should be stored, common faults to recognise like oxidation and being out of condition, and the general principles for pairing sake with food.
Note: this is a general orientation to help you plan your revision, not a copy of WSET's own specification document. For the official, authoritative syllabus and learning outcomes, always refer to WSET's published Level 1 specification.
How to use this alongside Cellar Prep
Cellar Prep's Level 1 Sake module mirrors this same shape: a large bank of original multiple-choice questions across these topics, sampled into a 30-question, 45-minute practice exam with the same 70% pass mark, so a practice run feels like the real thing.
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