ITALIAN LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY TEST

29-mar-2021

Language proficiency test
Exemption from the language proficiency test
Exemption from the language test and quotas
Dates for the language proficiency test

Language proficiency test

As required by the PROCEDURES FOR ENTRY, RESIDENCY AND ENROLMENT OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS AND THE RESPECTIVE RECOGNITION OF QUALIFICATIONS, FOR HIGHER EDUCATION COURSES IN ITALY FOR THE ACADEMIC YEAR 2022-2023, Higher education institutions are obliged to test the linguistic ability of students for access to courses. Each institution must organise a test of proficiency in the Italian language, obligatory for all Laurea degree and Laurea Magistrale a ciclo unico (single-cycle) degree courses, except for those cases which are exempted as indicated in the following paragraphs. This test is to be held preferably off-campus and before the visa application, thereby allowing for the certification of this proficiency during the request for a study visa, for an acceleration of such procedures and to lessen the pressure on the candidate. The outcome of the evaluation of linguistic knowledge must be certified in the pre-enrolment application and in the eventual letter of eligibility for registration, in order to exempt the diplomatic-consular Missions from the aforementioned verification. Even in the case of courses held in other languages, this language element must be indicated in the pre-enrolment request and in the eventual letter of eligibility for registration, considering that for such courses a test of Italian knowledge is not required: in all these cases, students must deliver satisfactory certification of an adequate knowledge of the foreign language in which the course is held. Nobody may be admitted to further competitive or aptitude tests - if any - who has not passed the language test. As regards the Laurea Magistrale (not single-cycle) degree courses, independent decisions by the universities may include passing the test of proficiency in the Italian language.

Exemption from the language proficiency test

The following students are exempted from the Italian language test, but subject to the limit of the specific number of places reserved for visa applicants and residents abroad:

those students who have obtained certificates of proficiency in the Italian language with a grade not inferior to B2 level of the Council of Europe, awarded as determined by the CLIQ (Italian Quality Language Certification) quality system, which unites in one association the current certification bodies (University for Foreigners of Perugia, University for Foreigners of Siena, Rome Tre University and the Dante Alighieri Society) and University for Foreigners “Dante Alighieri” of Reggio Calabria, as well as in convention with Italian Institutes of Culture abroad or other institutions. These certifications may be earned in the country of origin, in the approved exam centres found all over the world;
the students described in the following paragraph are also exempted from the preliminary Italian language test and are enrolled independently of the fixed quota of places.

Exemption from the language test and quotas

For enrolment to Laurea and Laurea Magistrale a ciclo unico (single-cycle) degree courses, exemption of the language test is granted to, irrespectively of the number of reserved places:

those students who hold the final 4- or 5-year senior secondary school diploma awarded by Italian State or Staterecognised schools abroad;
those students holding one of the final leaving qualifications from a secondary School as listed in Attachment 2;
the holders of certificates pertaining to the Lower Secondary School final qualification obtained in Argentina, which certify the attendance of a study course which includes the teaching, for at least 5 years, of the Italian language, according to Law no. 210 of 7.6.1999 (Gazzetta Ufficiale no. 152 of 1.7.1999);
those students who have earned the Diploma in Italian Language and Culture at the Universities for Foreigners of Perugia and Siena;
Those students who have earned the certification in Italian language proficiency, with a grade of C1 or C2 of the Council of Europe, awarded as determined by the CLIQ (Italian Quality Language Certification) quality system, which unites in one association the current certification bodies (Universities for Foreigners of Perugia and Siena, Roma Tre University and the Dante Alighieri Society), as well as those issued by the University for Foreigners “Dante Alighieri” of Reggio Calabria, also in convention with Italian Institutes of Culture abroad or other accredited institutions.
For enrolment in Laurea Magistrale degree courses (should the University autonomously require the test) exemption is granted to those students holding the qualifications outlined in the previous letters b. and c.