Slovenia's basic-level Slovene exam for citizenship: 60% in every part, and why fewer passed in 2025

The basic level covers A2 and B1, and the Centre says it is all you need for citizenship. It has four parts, each worth 25%: listening, 25 minutes; reading, 40 minutes; writing, 40 minutes (a short practical text and a reply to a letter); and speaking, 15 minutes plus 15 of preparation (introducing yourself, describing a picture, a role play), in front of a three-member commission. The written and oral parts are usually on the same day.

To pass at A2 you need at least 60% of the points in every part; B1 needs 85% in every part. The result is pass or fail. In writing and speaking that means at least 12 of 20 points each.

You cannot retake one part. If you fail, you sit the whole exam again. The certificate comes with an annex showing your results part by part.

The Centre recommends 300 to 450 hours of Slovene before the basic level, does not require a course, and says there is no official textbook. It publishes a sample test.

Basic-level exams have nearly tripled in five years: 1,457 in 2020, 2,830 in 2023, 3,103 in 2024 and 4,226 in 2025, which is 1,123 more than the year before.

The pass rate fell from 77% in 2024 to 65% in 2025, twelve points in a year. Writing was the part most often failed: 28% of basic-level exams failed it in 2025, against 15% in 2024. A little under 8% failed all four parts.

Citizenship is now a minority reason. Candidates sitting the basic level for citizenship were 47% in 2023, 37% in 2024 and 23.5% in 2025, while those sitting it for a residence permit rose to 46% in 2025, after the Aliens Act made A2 a condition of permanent residence.

The Centre's own explanation is that once the free first attempt no longer required attending a course, more candidates came to the exam without proper preparation.

One of the providers that hold the exam sees the same cause. Petra Sternad of CDI Univerzum, one of the twenty adult-education providers: "In the past, third-country nationals had to attend at least 80% of the 180-hour ZIP course to take the Slovenian language exam for free. Currently, these candidates can take the exam for free without meeting this requirement. We believe this may be the reason why more candidates have been failing the exam recently." That is one provider's experience, not an official figure.

The basic level costs €172, the same at every provider. The price covers the exam, the certificate or report, and postage. Individual exams (€455) are suspended until further notice.

Non-EU nationals may be entitled to a free first attempt under the government's integration decree (Uradni list 27/24), with a certificate from their administrative unit. The Centre's 2025 report says the state contract that paid for free exams ended in December 2025 because the money ran out, and that its bid for a new contract was accepted; we could not confirm when the new one starts.

There are four regular sittings a year, run in the same week by the Centre in Ljubljana and by nearly twenty adult-education providers, including Maribor, Celje, Koper, Kranj and Novo mesto. The November and December 2026 sittings were already full when we read the dates. The next are 1–6 February 2027 (sign-up opens 5 January 2027 at 9:00), 12–17 April, 7–12 June and 13–18 September 2027.

Registration closes 14 days before the sitting, and a sitting runs only with at least six candidates. Withdraw at least four working days ahead and you get 85% back or a later date; a no-show pays again in full.

Results come within 30 working days. Retakes at regular sittings are, in the Centre's words, practically unlimited, and you can sit the next one.

An appeal must be lodged within 8 days and costs €20, refunded if it is upheld. The fee for appeals came with the rule changes of 2024–2026.

Citizenship applicants who cannot read and write, or finished fewer than six years of primary school, sit an oral-only exam (listening and speaking) on a written referral from their administrative unit or the interior ministry, which decides who counts as literate. It exists only for citizenship; 17 people took it at the basic level in 2025.

The Citizenship Act treats the condition as met for people who finished primary or secondary school or a degree in Slovenia, finished a Slovene-language school in the Slovene communities of neighbouring countries, or are over 60 with 15 years of actual residence. People whose health makes everyday communication impossible are exempt, proved through a court expert at their own cost.