If you are an international student and want to enrol in a degree taught in Italian, you will almost certainly be asked to prove your level of Italian. In many universities the test is the TEST ITA L2, also known as Bravo!-ITAL2, run by the CISIA consortium. It is not a subject test: it does not ask you to know maths or history, but to understand and use Italian. This guide gives you what I have read on the official sources (structure, score, universities) and, plainly, what is not published or not verified by me.
Date of reading for everything: 29 October 2026. If you prefer Italian, this guide has its Italian version.
What the TEST ITA L2 is
It is a multiple-choice test of Italian as a second language, with one correct answer per question. Each student gets a unique test: two people do not have the same sequence of questions. Sections are timed; when time runs out you move on to the next and cannot go back. It can be taken @HOME (from home) or @UNI (on site), depending on the university.
Structure: three parts of rising level
From the CISIA «Structure and syllabus» page:
| Part | Level | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Part 1 | A1/A2 | 40 minutes |
| Part 2 | A2/B1+ | 40 minutes |
| Part 3 | B2/C1 | 40 minutes |
Each part has the same pattern: 1 listening task (one track), 1 reading (one text) and 2 short texts on the structure of the language. The test therefore lasts 120 minutes in total, in three separately timed blocks.
Score. The maximum is 72 points; you get +1 for a correct answer and 0 for a wrong or blank one: there is no penalty. One consistent fact is that 72 points equal 24 questions per part, but that is my own deduction: the number of questions per component (listening, reading, structure) is not published on the pages I read, and I do not claim it.
Who uses it
The CISIA list of universities using the test includes: UER (acronym as printed by CISIA), Sapienza, Sassari, Reggio Calabria (Mediterranea), Cassino, Salerno, Trieste, Napoli «L’Orientale», Ferrara, L’Aquila, Firenze, Milano-Bicocca, Pavia, Roma Tre and Molise. It is the list on the CISIA page read on 29 October 2026: it does not replace the call for your degree.
Official example: Sapienza 2026/27. The Sapienza call requires international students with a visa to take an Italian test at minimum B2 level, delivered as ITA L2 @CASA, with a threshold of 55 points out of 72. Valid are a test taken between 1 January 2024 and 30 June 2026 with at least 55 points, or a CLIQ B2+ certificate obtained after 1 January 2022. When Sapienza’s own dates are used up, those of other universities are used. For the other 14 universities I have not read the thresholds: I do not quote them.
How to prepare (without making things up)
I have found no detailed official syllabus and have read no sample papers published by CISIA: I cannot tell you how many questions you have per section nor show you an official question. I can, however, tell you how to train the three skills, with original examples.
Listening
The test has only one track per part: few chances, so full attention is needed. Training means listening every day to spoken Italian at natural speed (radio, podcasts, news) and doing three things: understand the topic on the first listen, note keywords (numbers, places, names), listen again and check. Try two speeds: a slow news bulletin for the A2 part and a conversation with several voices for B2.
A useful habit for a test with a single track: read the options before the audio. If you already know the answers are about times, you listen for times.
Reading
One text per part, with multiple-choice questions. The method never changes: read the text once for the topic and the main ideas, then the questions, then look in the text for the sentence that proves the answer, not the one that sounds right. An original example at B1 level:
«Il museo resterà chiuso il lunedì, tranne il primo lunedì del mese, quando l’ingresso è gratuito.» (The museum will be closed on Mondays, except the first Monday of the month, when entry is free.)
Question: When can you get in for free? The answer is in just one part of the sentence, and the most common distractor is «every Monday». The text says the museum is normally closed on Mondays: «the first Monday of the month» is the only exception.
To train: read a news or culture article in Italian every day, underline the connectives (tuttavia, perciò, sebbene, mentre: however, therefore, although, while) and rewrite in your own words, in one sentence, what the text says.
Structure of the language
These are the short texts where grammatical elements must be recognised or completed. Here B2 level means mastering: the subjunctive (penso che sia, se fosse), the conditional sentence (se avessi saputo, sarei venuto), combined pronouns (me lo dice, glielo spiego), prepositions and sequence of tenses. An original example:
«Se avessi studiato di più, ____ l’esame.» (If I had studied more, ____ the exam.)
The options might be passo / passerei / avrei passato / passassi. The correct form is avrei passato: «se» + past subjunctive requires the past conditional in the main clause. The typical mistake is to choose passerei, which is correct for a present hypothesis (se studiassi di più, passerei l’esame). If you want a review of how the sentence works, start from a grammar that explains why, not just the rule.
Strategy in the test
- Answer everything. There is no penalty: leaving a blank protects you from nothing.
- Three blocks, three timers. Forty minutes per part: you cannot use time left over from Part 1 in Part 3. Train to finish with a few minutes of margin.
- For listening, remember you cannot go back. Before listening, read the questions and get ready.
- Do not give up on the easy part. Part 1 (A1/A2) is the simplest: it is the score you must not lose through distraction.
Typical mistakes
- Thinking that «understanding spoken Italian» is enough: the structure section rewards accuracy, not fluency.
- Never trying the @HOME format: connection, headphones and room are part of the test.
- Assuming the threshold is the same in all universities: 55/72 is Sapienza’s, not a national threshold.
- Trusting material that cites no level or source: for a levelled test (A1-C1) you need material marked by level.
What I do not know
As of 29 October 2026 the following is not published or not verified: the number of questions per component; the detailed syllabus; official examples; the thresholds of 14 universities out of 15; the number of attempts and the dates, which CISIA refers to the universities’ own sites. Our tests calendar shows no ITA L2 dates for the same reason.
If you want a plan to take your Italian from B1 to B2 ahead of the test, with listening, reading and grammar tailored to you, the free introductory call is for that: in half an hour we work out your real level and where to start. The tests I prepare are listed on the admission tests page, and for those who will later face a TOLC in Italian there is the guide to the TOLC-SU.
