English levels and progression | British Council Saudi Arabia

Our courses are based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFRL) which is an international standard to describe language ability across reading, writing, listening and speaking.

In your consultation we will help you to understand your current English language level, what you want to achieve and find which course is best for you.

If you need to demonstrate your English level to study, live or work abroad we can help you prepare for IELTS, or book a Cambridge English exam.

There are 6 levels:

Beginner A0
Elementary A1–A2
Pre-intermediate A2–B1
Intermediate B1
Upper-intermediate B2
Advanced C1–C2

In this section

English levels for children

Understand how we place children in our groups and levels.

A1 English

Level A1: Beginner/Elementary corresponds to basic users of the language, i.e. those able to communicate in everyday situations with commonly-used expressions and vocabulary.

A2 English

Level A2: Elementary/Pre-intermediate corresponds to basic users of the language, i.e. those able to communicate in everyday situations with commonly-used expressions and elementary vocabulary.

B1 English

Level B1: Pre-intermediate/Intermediate corresponds to independent users of the language, who have the necessary fluency to communicate in a limited way with native speakers.

B2 English

Level B2: Intermediate/Upper-intermediate corresponds to independent users of the language, who have the necessary fluency to communicate without effort with native speakers.

C1 English

Level C1: Advanced corresponds to proficient users of the language, i.e. those able to perform complex tasks in a wide range of scenarios.

C2 English

Level C2: Proficiency corresponds to proficient users of the language, who are able to perform complex tasks related to work and study in a near native like manner.