I also passed with a Bom! Quite surprised. The reading writing and speaking scores were in line with my expectations, but my listening score was much higher - I got 56% in listening. I thought I may have failed on the basis I wasn’t sure I did well enough to get 25% in the listening, which is the minimum required in each part. Relieved.
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It’s pretty wild. My husband took it in July and passed with a 77, and he can converse in Portuguese and understand if it is not spoken too quickly. I, on the other hand, can not converse without rehearsing first in my head, having to think about all the articles and conjugations and just guessing at prepositions, and can pick out words here and there when listening, and I still got a 73. My writing score was a 60, and I would have thought I did much better there. Really, anything above a 55 means I spent too much time studying, lol!
I would expect they’re expecting a higher standard for the writing than the speaking? I also did better on the speaking than the writing, even though I feel my writing is much stronger than my speaking (67 versus 75%). However, I think I made a strategic error on the writing - I missed the opportunity to use the imperative and just used present. A friend pointed out afterwards that imperative is probably what they were looking for in one of the tasks. As a result I failed to demonstrate that I knew more complex grammar.
I think there is no minimum required per section as long as the total is 55% or more
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Does anyone know if there is any downside in taking the exam and failing once before trying again? Any limit to how soon you can try again or anything like that? I want to be prepared for a November application if the laws still allow me to. I am fast at learning languages and have picked up a lot of Portuguese on my own (helps that I speak Spanish), so I think there’s at least a decent chance I could pass the test without studying (much). But is there any reason I should be more cautious and make sure I can pass before taking a test soon? I would have gladly grabbed the February exam in Lisbon if there’s no downside, as I’ll be in town anyway, but I guess I waited too long on that one…
You can only take the test once per “epoca,” or season, meaning if you took in 2026 and failed, you need to wait until 2027. Therefore I would suggest you feel prepared enough to pass it.
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If you speak Spanish, you will most likely pass.
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I am pretty sure it’s a minimum of 25% in each section and 55% overall
There’s really no downside to trying it once and failing. There’s no penalty, no limit on attempts, and no waiting period before you can retake it. You’d just lose the exam fee and a bit of time.
Given that you already speak Spanish and have picked up Portuguese quickly, you probably have a decent shot even without heavy studying. If you’re aiming for a November application, taking it sooner is actually a good move, not a risky one.
Thanks for this response. But I guess I won’t know if I passed until a few months later right? So wouldn’t know whether I need to retake until at least then?
Good point! that’s definitely something to keep in mind, so it’s probably best to go in feeling reasonably confident rather than treating it as a casual “trial run.”
Since I am fresh out of being screwed for a 150-hour language course, I am very gunshy.have any of you used - EduSetPT for your 150 hour certificate? It appears to be a CEFR certificate. Has anyone done this program AND used the certificate in their nationality application?
What happened? Was their certificate not valid?
no, they said it was. and “verified” that their school is an approved provider — turns out it’s not true. So we have to hustle to get another 150-hour course done asap. I am just going to take CAPLE, but my son w/a learning disability needs a PLA approved course. Do not use LUSA school for this
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I’m having the same problem with Lusa School. Their claims are not legitimate for nationality.
I’m now half-way through the EduSetPT intensive PLA course. It is 3 hours per weekday, approx 10 weeks.
I’m actually quite happy with the teacher and the other students are mostly quite involved with the class. I haven’t completed the course so I haven’t actually used it for my nationality application.
If you want to know more, let me know. I have no hesitation recommending EduSetPT.
Dan
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@danapple so this is a legit PLA certificate? even though they use the term CEFR certificate?
Here is the course:
That page says:
“
Official certificate for nationality application (according to Portaria nº 183/2020 de 05 Agosto and Portaria nº184/2022 de 21 de Julho)”
They provided me an enrollment certificate that I will submit with my nationality application. The enrollment certificate says “Curso PLA – Português Língua de Acolhimento”.
Dan
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Are you saying you have already received your A2 course completion certificate and it says CEFR?
And it does not say PLA?
Hi Tommy, the A2 certificate program that we completed via LUSA indicates DGERT certificate.
Even though we exchanged several emails about this, and I was told this is accepted because they are a professional training program, my attorney said that this is not accepted.
I have been scrambling to get my son into a new A2 certificate program and EduSePT indicates that it is a CEFR certificate- I have emailed them a couple of times and they indicate that they have partners that collaborate with them to make this a PLA compliant program.
I dont want to get burned twice.
Bonnie
(attachments)
Lusa-Certificado-DGERT+C4095.pdf (135 KB)