CAPLE (Centro de Avaliação de Português Língua Estrangeira or Centre for Evaluation of Portuguese as a Foreign Language) is a certificate of proficiency in Standard

European Portuguese European Portuguese ( pt, português europeu, ), also known as Portuguese of Portugal (Portuguese: português de Portugal), Iberian Portuguese (Portuguese: português ibérico), and Peninsular Portuguese (Portuguese: português peninsular), refer ...

as a

second language A person's second language, or L2, is a language that is not the native language (first language or L1) of the speaker, but is learned later. A second language may be a neighbouring language, another language of the speaker's home country, or a fo ...

offered in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

and 45 other countries and territories. The official CAPLE examinations and certificates/diplomas are developed, delivered, and accredited by a tri-partite collaboration in Portugal between the School of Arts and Humanities at the

University of Lisbon The University of Lisbon (ULisboa; pt, Universidade de Lisboa, ) is a public research university in Lisbon, and the largest university in Portugal. It was founded in 2013, from the merger of two previous public universities located in Lisbon, th ...

and the

Instituto Camões The Instituto Camões ( English: ''Camões Institute''), formally, Camões — Instituto da Cooperação e da Língua, I. P. ( English: ''Camões — Institute for Cooperation and Language, Public Institute''), is a Portuguese international instit ...

, which administers the examination procedures on behalf of the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Eligibility

To take the test, applicants must be at least 14 years of age, be a national of a country where Portuguese is not an official language, or, if they are from a country whose official language is Portuguese, they must meet two of the following conditions: * Their parents' first language is not Portuguese. * Their first language acquired was not Portuguese. * Their main language of communication is not Portuguese. * All or part of their basic or secondary education was not in Portuguese.

Levels

CAPLE exams take place in May, July, and November in all testing centres, in addition to February, March, August, September, and October in Lisbon only. CAPLE exams are offered at six levels; however, there are a few places that may not offer the ACESSO level.

Test Format

There are four parts of evaluation in every level that tests all four major language abilities - reading, writing, listening, and speaking. There is also an additional part called "Competência Estrutural" that appears on only the DIPLE, DAPLE, and DUPLE tests. The weight and amount of time allocated for each section varies by level.

Scoring

The minimum passing mark to receive the certificate or diploma for any test is 55%. Four categories of results dictate how well a candidate does.

Recognition

CAPLE certificates/diplomas do not expire over time and are recognized across Portugal by various national and international institutions for the benefit of foreigners looking to: * study and gain admission to Portuguese universities * find work and pursue a professional or academic career in Portugal * obtain Portuguese nationality or permanent residency status (the A2/CIPLE level can be used to satisfy the requirement of having "basic Portuguese" skills)

External links

CAPLE Official Website (Portuguese only)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:CAPLE Portuguese language tests