Estonian citizenship: the B1 language exam, the 24-question constitution exam, and how many pass

The B1 exam tests writing (35 minutes), listening (30–35 minutes), reading (50 minutes) and speaking (15 minutes). Each part is worth 25 points, out of 100. You pass with at least 60 points, as long as no part scores 0. There is no separate minimum per part beyond that.

The speaking part is done in pairs. Harno's answer to a common worry: if your partner speaks no Estonian at all, the examiners give you more of the conversation and talk with you themselves.

No knowledge of Estonian culture or history is tested. Some reading and listening texts may be about them, but every answer is in the text.

Applicants aged 65 or over are excused the writing part (the essay) when they register for the citizenship version of the B1 exam, and sit only listening, reading and speaking.

Your result comes as a band for each skill: 50–59% weak, 60–75% satisfactory, 76–90% good, 91–100% very good. That tells you which part to work on if you fail.

2025: 3,824 people sat the B1 exam and 2,278 passed, 59.57%. By quarter it ran from 65.26% in the second quarter down to 52.07% in the fourth.

2024: 3,615 sat and 2,277 passed, 62.93%.

For comparison, in 2025 A2 passed 68.9%, B2 37.13% and C1 29.7%. Our reading: B1 is the level citizenship asks for, and roughly two candidates in five do not reach it at a given sitting.

The constitution and Citizenship Act exam is taken on a computer, in 45 minutes: 24 multiple-choice questions in Estonian, from four areas: the basis of the state (chapters I and III of the Constitution), fundamental rights and duties (chapter II), the powers of the Riigikogu, the President, the Government and the courts, and how citizenship is acquired, restored and lost under the Citizenship Act.

You pass with 18 correct answers. During the exam you may use the Estonian texts of the Constitution and the Citizenship Act, and a dictionary, all provided in the room. The result is shown as soon as you finish.

2025: 1,203 people sat it and 989 passed, 82.21%. It runs monthly except July in Tallinn, Tartu and Narva, and twice a year in Pärnu, Rakvere and Valga if at least five people register. Registration closes 15 days before the exam.

Harno publishes a handbook for applicants in Estonian, Russian and English, Estonian–English and Estonian–Russian glossaries, and practice questions.

Language exams run once a quarter in Tallinn, Tartu, Narva and Jõhvi, and in Pärnu in March and September if at least 12 register. The last 2026 B1 sitting is on 8 November 2026; registration for it closed on 1 October. Registration for 2027 opens on 1 January 2027.

Results take up to 40 days, and you cannot register for another exam until they are out. Our reading: with quarterly sittings, a fail can cost you a full quarter, sometimes two, because registration for the next sitting may already have closed.

Under 45%, or absent without good reason, and you wait six months before you can sit the same exam again.

You can appeal a language-exam result within 30 days. A committee decides within 30 days. A health problem raised afterwards is not grounds for an appeal.

Before each exam Harno runs a free consultation, up to 4.5 hours for the language exam, with sample tasks. It is open without registering for the exam.

Once you have passed both exams, you can apply to Harno for a refund of what you paid for Estonian courses, up to €384, the ceiling set by the Government. You must apply within three months of learning that you passed the second exam, and the order of the two exams does not matter.

The conditions matter. The course must have been given by a provider with an Estonian education licence for that level, it must have been finished and paid before the exam, and only private individuals can apply, not employers. Since 1 January 2024 the refund is limited to citizenship applicants and to people sent to the exam by the Language Board.

Exempt from the language exam: anyone who completed basic, secondary or higher education in Estonian. For a degree, Harno says at least 60% of the teaching must have been in Estonian, and a master's alone in Estonian, after a bachelor's in another language, does not count.