COMMON EUROPEAN FRAMEWORK

Common European Framework

The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEF or CEFR) was put together by the Council of Europe as a way of standardising the levels of language exams in different regions. It is very widely used internationally and all important exams are mapped to the CEFR.

There are six levels: A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2. These are described in the table below.

Click here to see which exams are at which CEFR levels.

Council of Europe levels	Description
C2 ALTE 5	The capacity to deal with material which is academic or cognitively demanding, and to use language to good effect at a level of performance which may in certain respects be more advanced than that of an average native speaker. Example: CAN scan texts for relevant information, and grasp main topic of text, reading almost as quickly as a native speaker.
C1 ALTE 4	The ability to communicate with the emphasis on how well it is done, in terms of appropriacy, sensitivity and the capacity to deal with unfamiliar topics. Example: CAN deal with hostile questioning confidently. CAN get and hold onto his/her turn to speak.
B2 ALTE 3	The capacity to achieve most goals and express oneself on a range of topics. Example: CAN show visitors around and give a detailed description of a place.
B1 ALTE 2	The ability to express oneself in a limited way in familiar situations and to deal in a general way with nonroutine information. Example: CAN ask to open an account at a bank, provided that the procedure is straightforward.
A2 ALTE 1	An ability to deal with simple, straightforward information and begin to express oneself in familiar contexts. Example: CAN take part in a routine conversation on simple predictable topics.
A1 ALTE Breakthrough	A basic ability to communicate and exchange information in a simple way. Example: CAN ask simple questions about a menu and understand simple answers.