The CILS Exam: How to Take it

If you wish to obtain an official certificate in Italian, one of the many tests you might take is the CILS, or Certification of Italian as a Foreign Language. This test was created by the Foreigners University of Siena's CILS center. The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs accepts the CILS exam as a means of admission to any Italian university or other higher education facility in Italy.  

The CILS exam is based on the levels of the CEFR (Common European Framework); hence exams are available to demonstrate proficiency in levels A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, and C2. The test is administered twice a year all over the world in June and December, and is hosted by the University for foreigners Siena, one of the few universities for foreigners in Italy.

The CILS exam is administered in countries/states all over Europe, USA and Asia.

How the exam is structured

The exam’s structure is the same for all the six levels, with some differences in the number of activities to be done within each section. This affects the time given for each section at different levels: for example, the A1 listening comprehension takes around 20 minutes, whereas at a B2 level it takes around 30 minutes.

Moreover, for some levels candidates can choose between different profiles, depending on their age or specific needs. For example, at a A1 level there are four different profiles: children, adolescents, adults and immigrants who live in Italy.

The exam is divided into 5 parts:

• Listening Comprehension (Ascolto): a different number of activities (two or three) depending on the level and on the profile. The type of task is the multiple choice or the information recognition.
• Reading Comprehension (Comprensione della lettura): two or three activities depending on the level. Multiple choice, information recognition and text rebuilding are the specific tasks.
• Syntax and Grammar (Strutture della communicazione): three or four activities as gap filling, cloze, multiple choice, transformation of a short text.
• Writing (Produzione scritta): two tasks, the first one can be a description, a report, a review or an essay. The second an information request, an informal letter or a formal letter. The genre depends on the exam’s level.
• Speaking (Produzione orale): two activities, the first one is a conversation with the examiner, the second is a monologue. The topic is chosen by the candidate, who has four options for each task. Both speaking parts are recorded.

Each section is worth 20 points, and you’ll need a minimum of 11 points to pass each part.

The whole exam is marked by a team of evaluators at the University for Foreigners of Siena and it takes around 3 months to receive the results.

How to register for an exam

1. Find your nearest administrator of the exam.  

2. Search their website to see if they hold the exam twice a year. You’ll typically find it under Certifications.

3. Some of the websites you research may not talk specifically about when the exam happens or how to sign up, in which case you’ll have to email them.

4. You’ll be sent an to fill out plus information on the costs of the exam and how to send the payment.

5. Each level has a different cost. Beside the base cost of the exam, there is also a $20 administration fee to pay the day of the exam:

• Livelli CILS A1 e A2   (€ 40)
• Livello CILS UNO-B1   (€ 90)
• Livello CILS B1 Adolescenti   (€70)
• Livello CILS DUE-B2   (€105)
• Livello CILS TRE-C1   (€135)
• Livello CILS QUATTRO-C2   (€160)

Note: The exam fee will need to be wired from your bank to theirs in order for them to know that it’s the correct currency exchange rate from dollars to euros.

How to prepare

It is an exam that you want to be well prepared for, and most serious students start to study for this examen at least 6 months prior. There are a lot of language schools – online and offline – that offers preparation courses for the CILS exam.