Information on CILS B1 citizenship exam 

** Registrations are now closed **

Due to the Covid-19 the B1 Citizenship Exam will follow a modified version and it will be ORAL ONLY.

Date of CILS B1 citizenship exam: June 12th, 2021

Deadline for registration and payment: Registrations are now closed

Location of CILS Exam : Connect English Mission Valley Campus, 4560 Alvarado Canyon Rd, San Diego, CA 92120.

Registration process To be fully enrolled you’ll need to email cils@iaasd.org :

  • the registration form here
  • the covid-19 health screening form here
  • a copy of a valid ID document (Pdf format only)
  • the receipt of the payment

Information and questions:  cils@iaasd.org . Due to the high volume of phone calls we will only reply via email. Make sure you provide a valid email address.

Download student’s details instructions for the test.

The Italian American Academy may charge an extra fee per candidate in case the minimum number students (8) is not reached per each level or specialist exam. The extra fee is separated from the exam and need to be paid during registration process.

Italian American academy has been certified by the University of Siena as CILS test center

There are many certification of mastery of Italian language issued by the university institutions or by cultural institutions of various kinds:

Wperson taking testhat exactly is CILS?

The CILS certification (certificazione dell’italiano come lingua straniera), created by the University of Siena, certifies the candidate’s linguistic-communicative competences in Italian as their second language. The CILS Certification is the first Italian language certification to have applied the six levels of linguistic-communicative competences from the Common European Framework of Reference (A1 to C2). Within the 6 levels of CILS certifications there are specific modules targeting work applications, citizenship applications and different age groups.

  • CILS A1 (Level A1 of the CEFR): children module, adolescent module, module for integration in Italy, adult module
  • CILS A2 (Level A2 of the CEFR): children module, adolescent module, module for integration in Italy, adult module
  • CILS One (Level B1 of the CEFR): adult module, adolescent module, B1-citizenship
  • CILS Due (Level B2 of the CEFR): adult module
  • CILS Three (Level C1 of the CEFR): adult module.
  • CILS Four (Level C2 of the CEFR): adult module

The exam is divided into four/five sections, depends on the levels and it consists on the evaluation of the four/five basic skills:

  • listening comprehension
  • reading and comprehension of written texts
  • analysis of the communicative structures (only for certain levels)
  • writing (writing production)
  • speaking (oral production)exma in progress

The exam consists of both closed questions (multiple choice questions), semi-structured questions (re-elaboration of texts starting from data elements) , open (free development of a topic), for both the reading and writing skills evaluations. For the oral exams, the candidate are tested on dialogues and monologues on any day life situations.

Each part of the examination is evaluated independently, so to pass the exam you must have obtained the minimum grade in each ability:

  • A1 and A2 have a minimum of 7 to a maximum of 12 points per each ability.
  • B1 to C2 have a miminum of 11 to a maximum of 20 per each ability.

If the minimum of one or more abilities is not reached, then it is possible to retake the necessary sections within 18 months from the original date of the first exam. This DOES NOT apply to the B1 citizenship certification. The candidate must retake the entire test if he/she fails one ability.

CILS certifications are recognized in the workplace, education, universities and for Italian citizenship applications. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs recognizes the CILS A2 integration module as a valid certificate of competence in the Italian language to obtain the EC Residence Permit for long-term residents. The B1 citizenship module is now necessary to be able to applied for Italian citizenship in accordance with Italian Law 1st December 2018, n.132.

The exam for the CILS takes place at the University of Siena and also at the Scuola Leonardo da Vinci and now also at the Italian American Academy of San Diego.