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CEFR Level A2

A2 is the second level of the Common European Framework and the upper Basic User level. Its informal name is Waystage.

What A2 actually means

An A2 speaker can understand sentences and frequently used expressions related to areas of most immediate relevance — personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment. They can communicate in simple and routine tasks requiring a direct exchange of information on familiar matters, and describe in simple terms their background, immediate environment and matters of immediate need.

The practical shift from A1 is that an A2 speaker can give an account of themselves — where they are from, what they do, what happened today — rather than only respond to prompts.

What it is worth in practice

• Immigration. A2 is a common requirement for residence permits and for permanent-residence applications in several European states, and in some systems it is the level required for long-term settlement short of citizenship.
• Work. Genuinely employable in service, hospitality, care, construction and warehouse work where instructions are routine and vocabulary is bounded. This is the level at which a worker stops needing a translator for the ordinary parts of a job — which matters most for safety instruction.
• Study. Still not sufficient for academic study in the language.

Certificates at A2 with staying power

• English — A2 Key (originally the Key English Test, introduced in 1994), from Cambridge. The entry point of the main Cambridge suite, and the oldest continuously run A2-targeted English examination.
• Spanish — DELE A2, Instituto Cervantes. Note that DELE A2 is the examination tied to Spanish nationality applications under the relevant procedure, alongside a separate constitutional and sociocultural knowledge test.
• French — DELF A2, French Ministry of Education. Lifetime diploma.
• German — Goethe-Zertifikat A2, Goethe-Institut, with a Fit in Deutsch 2 variant for younger candidates.
• Italian — CILS A2, CELI Impatto (Università per Stranieri di Perugia), PLIDA A2.

How long it takes

Commonly cited estimates put A1 to A2 at a further 100 to 200 guided hours, with the usual caveats about language distance and study conditions.

Where to go next

CEFR Level B1, which is the line that matters most — the point at which the framework stops calling you a Basic User.

See also: CEFR The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages · CEFR Level A1 · Language Registers Business Religious and Trade Language

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