CIPLE, PaN or a free PLA course — which one
There is more than one way to prove Portuguese at A2, and they are genuinely different — in price, in what they test, and in how long you wait. Nobody else compares them, so here they are side by side, including the cases where the free route beats the one this site prepares you for.
The three routes
All three satisfy the same legal requirement. What differs is the cost, the wait and whether you are tested on speaking.
| CIPLE | PaN | PLA course | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Run by | CAPLE, University of Lisbon | IAVE (Ministry of Education) | State schools, IEFP, Qualifica centres |
| Cost | €95 | €65 | Free, in almost all cases |
| Format | Paper, plus a spoken exam | Computer-based, 75 minutes | A course, assessed as you go |
| Tests speaking | Yes | No | Yes, during the course |
| Pass mark | 55% | 50% | Course assessment |
| Availability | Nine sittings a year in Portugal | Currently suspended | Waiting lists of one to two months |
When the free course is the better choice
If you are not in a hurry and a place is available near you, the PLA course is free, it teaches rather than tests, and its certificate proves A2 for nationality exactly as CIPLE does. AIMA says so directly.
The catch is capacity. Enrolments rose from about 22,000 in 2020/21 to about 56,000 in 2025 and many areas run waiting lists of one to two months. If your application has a date attached, waiting for a place is a risk.
Why PaN is not currently an option
The state’s own language test for nationality, run by IAVE, costs €65 and has no speaking component. It is also not running: IAVE states that no sitting is expected before the end of the current year.
That leaves CIPLE and the PLA courses as the two working routes.