Ascolta

The Italian Language School for Foreigners is the only official CILS examination center in Palermo.

To obtain the Certification of one of the six CILS levels you have to pass an examination that will test your listening, written comprehension, written production, and oral production. From B1 level on, you will also have to pass a test that assesses your knowledge of the Italian morphosyntactic structures.

All the tests are produced and evaluated at the University for Foreigners of Siena's Certification Center. The production and evaluation of the tests ins based on the European parameters set by the Council of Europe's documents. This ensures an impartial and homogenous evaluation, that is carried out by specially and constantly trained evaluators that are.

To obtain the CILS Certification you will have to reach a minimum score in all the tests. The overall score ranges from 60 (in the A1 and A2 levels) to 100 points (in the other levels). Each skill is marked by an independent score (ranging from 0 to 20).

If you have already taken the CILS examination and have only passed some tests, you can retake the tests that you failed within 18 months from the first examination.

There are 6 CILS levels:

1. Level A1

2. Level A2 (A2 standard and A2 integrazione)

3. Level UNO-B1 (B1 standard and B1 cittadinanza)

4. Level DUE-B2
5. Level TRE-C1
6. Level QUATTRO-C2

These levels identify a progressively higher linguistic and communicative competence. Each CILS level is independent and complete.

The CILS A1 and CILS A2 levels are designed for those who are at the beginning of the Italian as a Second Language learning process. The exam lasts about two hours. There are modules for:

• children;
• teenagers;
• integration in Italy;
• adults.

At level UNO-B1 you will need to show that you can use Italian independently and adequately in the most frequent situations of daily life. The examination lasts about three hours. There are modules for:

• teenagers;
• adults.

At level DUE-B2 level you will need to show that you can manage a great variety of situations typical of everyday life in study or work environments. It is the minimum level of competence to access the Italian university system.
With this certificate, non-EU foreigners can enroll in Italian universities without having to take the test of knowledge of Italian. The examination lasts about four hours.

Level TRE-C1 is the higher level of communicative and linguistic competence. At this level you will need to show that you can manage a vast area of linguistic uses and communication contexts. You also need to show that you can communicate on your workplace. The examination lasts about five hours.

The QUATTRO-C2 level is the advanced level of linguistic-communicative competence and provides for a further expansion of linguistic uses and for your ability to master a wide range of communicative situations. It allows you to interact in professional situations. The examination lasts about five and a half hours.

 

Test examples

Click here to consult CILS test examples directly from the the University for Foreigners of Siena's website.