STUDENTS WHO DO NOT HAVE THE B2 LEVEL ENGLISH EXAM AS A PREREQUISITE
Students already enrolled in bachelor's and master's courses held in Italian that have been awarded one of the international certificates accepted by the university and would like to request exemption from the B2 exam should send a scanned copy of their certificate by email to the Front Office of the Foreign Languages Centre, email address: certificazioniesterne@unisi.it. Please include your student registration number in the email.
B2 LEVEL COURSES/EXAMS (for students enrolled in bachelor/master courses held in ITALIAN)
If you are attending a face-to face or blended B2 course, you will be enrolled in the exam directly by your teacher in the same semester, and do not need to register yourself. Those students that have passed a B2 course and would like to sit the exam at a later date need to register at the Language Center by the given deadlines.
If you are not attending a face-to-face or blended course and feel that your level of English is high enough (you should have, in any case, at least a B1 level), you can request direct admittance to the exam after passing a B2 pretest which must be booked online.
The next pretest will be held in September 2023.
If you book a test and then are unable to attend, please remember to cancel your appointment (in order to allow other students to book), otheriwise you will not be allowed to reserve a place the next time.
If you have already taken the B2 level English exam without passing it, you do not need to repeat the B2 pretest.
You do not need to take the pre-test and can register directly for the exam at the CLA Front Office if:
- You have already taken the B2 level English exam and have not passed it, or you have successfully attended a course in the previous semester without having sat the exam
- You have graduated from a secondary school with English as the medium of instruction, but you do not have one of the international certificates approved by the Language Center
Link to virtual classroom: https://meet.google.com/cdq-hyde-tzaA self-study online course is available in order to prepare for the B2 exam. Please write to clatutors@unisi.it to request the access code.
The Foreign Languages Center also periodically holds workshops which teach strategies to prepare for the both the Reading and Use of English components of the exam.
You do not have to register ahead of time In order to participate in the workshop. You should only:
- download and print the files below
- access the virtual classroom with your UNISI account
The next B2 English language exams will be held in Computer Room 1, Piazza San Francesco, 8, on the following dates:
- 12 Dicember 2023 – enrolment from this link from November 27 to December 4
- 30 January 2024 – enrolment from this link from December 19 to January 20
- 31 January 2024 – enrolment from this link from December 19 to January 20
- 15 February 2024 – enrolment from this link from December 19 to February 5
- For sessions held at the Arezzo compus, please visit the page: Appelli B2-CLA Arezzo – Please note that you are allowed to register for only one exam session at a time.
THE ABOVE ARE NOT SESSIONS FOR STUDENTS APPLYING TO COURSES IN WHICH THE MEDIUM OF STUDY IS ENGLISH AND DO NOT YET HAVE THE B2 PREREQUISITE.
You can enrol in the exam if:
- you have attended a B2 course or have passed a B2 pre-test or
- you have already taken the B2 exam but have not passed it
Candidates are requested to arrive at the assigned classroom at least 30 minutes before the indicated time. Late students will only be accepted within the first 10 minutes of the START TIME of the exam. The exams are held in Computer Lab 1 (Aula Informatica 1) on the ground floor in Piazza San Francesco, 8.
Candidates must provide a valid, recent photo ID (i.e. passport, identity card). University badge cards will NOT be accepted.
The exam will be computer-based; make sure to have your UnisiPass (the username and password that you need for all online university services).
The B2 level English exam is similar to the Cambridge FCE (First Certificate in English) exam, but is composed of only two parts, Reading and Use of English. A minimum of 60% (the average of the two parts) is necessary in order to pass the exam.
An hour is allowed for the completion of the first part:
Reading: 3 reading exercises (30 questions)
- Part 1: reading comprehension, with questions and multiple-choice answers (8 questions, 2 points each)
- Part 2: completion of an article by inserting the given sentences (7 questions, 2 points each)
- Part 3: reading of a text and associating the given sentences with the people referred to (15 questions, 1 point each)
45 minutes are allowed for the completion of the second part:
Use of English: 4 exercises (42 questions)
- Part 1: choose the correct word (among four options) to fill in the gaps in a text (12 questions)
- Part 2: complete an extract with 12 gaps
- Part 3: reading of a text and filling in the gaps with words derived from those in bold print (for example, “able” can become “ability” or “enable” or “disable”, etc.) (10 questions)
- Part 4: rewrite a sentence, using the given word, so that it has the same meaning as the first sentence (8 questions, 2 points each)
The B2 pretest is composed of:
- Questions with multiple-choice answers (grammar and vocabulary)
- Text to be completed, with multiple-choice answers (similar to “Use of English” part one from Cambridge FCE examination)
- Word formation exercises (similar to “Use of English” part three)
- Cloze test - text with gaps to be filled in with missing word (similar to “Use of English” part two)
45 minutes are allowed for the test.