What is on the CIPLE exam
CIPLE is the A2 Portuguese exam set by CAPLE at the University of Lisbon. It is sat in three sittings and marked as four separate activities, and CAPLE’s own FAQ names it as the minimum level for Portuguese nationality.
Reading and writing — 75 minutes, 45%
These are sat together in one 75-minute paper and marked separately. Reading is twenty questions across four tasks; writing is two short texts.
The four reading tasks are always the same shapes: five situations matched to phone messages, five short public notices with one question each, a letter with five sentence-halves to complete from a pool of eight, and one longer text with five questions.
- ·Questions 1–5: match a situation to one of three phone messages
- ·Questions 6–10: five separate notices — an ad, opening hours, a public notice — one question each
- ·Questions 11–15: join sentence beginnings to endings; three of the eight endings are never used
- ·Questions 16–20: one longer text, five three-option questions
- ·Writing: a 25–35 word reply, then a 60–80 word email continuing a printed opening
Listening — 30 minutes, 30%
Twenty-five questions in two tasks. First ten short recordings carrying fifteen questions between them; then ten sentences, each matched to one of ten places.
Every text is played twice with a signal between the two plays, and the recording cannot be paused. In the second task all ten places are used exactly once, so there is nothing spare — unlike the reading task, which deliberately leaves three options unused.
Speaking — 15 minutes, 25%
Sat with a second candidate wherever possible, and recorded on video. Three parts: questions about you, a situation to act out, and a short conversation about everyday events.
CAPLE publishes no marking rubric for this part and no model recording.
What counts as a pass
A pass is 55% overall. Above that, results are reported as Suficiente (55–69%), Bom (70–84%) or Muito Bom (85–100%).
Two things you will read elsewhere are not published by CAPLE, and this site does not state them as fact: how the 45% divides between reading and writing, and whether there is a minimum in each individual component. CAPLE gives one threshold, for the exam as a whole.
How long is the whole exam?▾
About two hours of written papers plus a fifteen-minute break, and then a fifteen-minute speaking exam scheduled separately by the centre.
Can I take the papers on different days?▾
The centre sets the timetable. In the national sittings the written paper starts at 09:00 and the listening at 10:30; speaking is arranged by the centre.
What can I bring?▾
Photo ID that matches your registration. No phones, no dictionaries, no correction fluid. Part 1 is answered in pencil and the written texts in blue or black pen.