The ACERT certificate exam is composed of two parts – written and oral.

Written examination:

The duration of the written examination - 90 minutes.

Maximum score for the written part: 60 points

The written examination consists of four parts:

• listening,
• reading,
• grammar and lexis (communicative use of a language in terms of both lexis and grammatical correctness in context)
• writing a short text.

Listening - two or three listening texts (e.g. monologues and/or mini-dialogues in the field of topics in accordance with the syllabus / CEF).

Different types of listening tasks are proposed (true/false, choice test, matching statements with dialogue participants, etc.).

A total of 15 points can be obtained for the Listening component, one point for each correct answer.

Reading - two or three short reading texts (in the subject area in accordance with the curriculum / CEF).

Different types of tasks are proposed to test global and selective reading comprehension (true/false, choice test, matching titles to text, etc.).

A total of 15 points can be obtained for the Reading component, one point for each correct answer.

Grammar and lexis - the number of tasks is arbitrary (in the area of topics in accordance with the curriculum / CEFR).

Different types of tasks are proposed to to test knowledge of grammar and vocabulary.

A total of 15 points can be obtained for the Grammar and Lexis section, one point for each correct answer.

Writing a short functional text - the candidate has to write e.g. an invitation, a short informal text such as an e-mail/letter from a holiday or an e-mail/letter in which he/she presents his/her family, interests, place of residence or a simple formal text such as an e-mail concerning the booking of a hotel room with additional questions (e.g. about food, parking, etc.), a description of a person or daily routine.

The word limit is 40 – 60 words. A total of 15 points can be obtained for the Writing section.

Oral examination:

The oral examination is taken before a committee in pairs or individually.

The oral examination (in accordance with the syllabus/CEF) comprises an individual statement and a dialogue between candidatess based on stimulus material  (topic, short text, drawing, etc.)

In assessing the oral presentation, the examination board will take into account:

• discourse management,
• linguistic communication skills (structures and lexis),
• interactive skills,
• pronunciation,
• overall impression.

A total of 40 points can be obtained for the oral examination.

A total of 100 points can be obtained for the written and oral parts together.

Distribution of points and scores:

In order to pass the Acert certificate examination in a foreign language, a minimum of 55% of correct answers are required (55 points) in the whole examination and, in addition to this, the candidate must score a  minimum of 50% in each examination component.

In the case of obtaining a lower number of points the examination is considered failed.