“Following a decision by the Government of Georgia, the year 2025 will mark a historic milestone for the Georgian education system: the introduction of a state language examination. Registration for the exam will open on November 24 and close on December 1,” stated Givi Mikanadze, Minister of Education, Science and Youth, during a briefing held at the ministry.

According to Givi Mikanadze, the majority of countries worldwide conduct state language examinations, the results of which grant candidates a certificate of language proficiency recognised by that particular country. This is especially important for international students, foreign nationals eligible to work in the public sector, Georgians living abroad, and non-Georgian-speaking personnel employed in the business sector.

“The state language examination is crucial for strengthening the status of Georgian as the state language and expanding the sphere of its functionality. It is precisely for this purpose that, in accordance with the State Language Strategy Action Plan for 2023-2024, the National Assessment and Examinations Centre has prepared an examination that fully complies with international standards. From now on, the state language examination will be held several times a year, allowing the country to assess four key competencies: listening, reading, writing, and speaking.

At this stage, two tests of varying difficulty will be conducted: the first will determine levels A1 and A2 of Georgian language proficiency, whilst the second will assess levels B1 and B2. The differentiation between levels will be based on the number of points accumulated by the applicant.

From 2030, we plan to conduct examinations determining levels C1 and C2 alongside A1, A2, B1 and B2, and work in this direction is already underway,” the minister noted.

According to Givi Mikanadze, registration for the Georgian language examination will only be possible electronically via the National Assessment and Examinations Centre’s registration page at online.naec.ge.

The Braille system or special electronic software will be available for candidates with visual impairments or blindness.

Certificates confirming the level of proficiency in the state language will be issued by the State Language Department, based on the results of the official language examination.

The work of the National Assessment and Examinations Centre on the examination test proceeded through several stages: initially, tasks to assess individual competencies were piloted across Georgia; subsequently, following psychometric analysis of the results and expert evaluation, a bank of test items was established, and the format of the examination was developed.