The framework

The CEFR: a non-prescriptive framework

As a common framework of reference, the CEFR is primarily intended as a tool for reflection, communication and empowerment. The CEFR does not tell practitioners what to do, or how to do it. It is a tool for reflection for all professionals in the field of foreign/second languages with a view to promoting quality, coherence and transparency through a common meta-language and common scales of language proficiency.

It is designed to provide a transparent, coherent and comprehensive basis for the elaboration of language syllabuses and curriculum guidelines, the design of teaching and learning materials, and the assessment of foreign language proficiency.

The strength of the descriptive scheme is based on long years of experience working on the specification of learning objectives for specific languages; the strength of the scales of language proficiency lies in the fact that they result from long research, including rigorous empirical examination, and the fact that they are directly rooted in the parameters and categories represented in the descriptive scheme of the CEFR.

Six levels of foreign language proficiency

The CEFR describes foreign language proficiency at six levels: A1 and A2, B1 and B2, C1 and C2. It also defines three ‘plus’ levels (A2+, B1+, B2+)

Based on empirical research and widespread consultation, this scheme makes it possible:

to establish learning and teaching objectives
to review curricula
to design teaching materials and
to provide a basis for recognising language qualifications thus facilitating educational and occupational mobility.

Levels
Descriptors
Content specifications (Reference Level Descriptions)
Relating examinations to the CEFR

The CEFR is much more than proficiency scales

The CEFR’s scales of foreign language proficiency are accompanied by a detailed analysis of communicative contexts, themes, tasks and purposes as well as scaled descriptions of the competences on which we draw when we communicate.

The CEFR is used in teacher education, the reform of foreign language curricula, the development of teaching materials and for the comparability of qualifications.

Important note

The use of the Council of Europe’s logo or of the European emblem for certification is not authorised. It is not the role of the Council of Europe to verify and validate the quality of the link between language examinations or diplomas and the CEFR's proficiency levels.

Member states are responsible for guaranteeing the quality and fairness of testing and assessment on the basis of the existing guidelines (including tools and illustrations) developed in the frame of the Council of Europe’s Language Policy Programme (Strasbourg).