Bild says Germany plans stricter migrant language test rules

Germany’s Interior Ministry plans to tighten assessment rules for the language exam taken by integration course participants from November 1, Bild reported, citing ministry documents.

Under current rules, a B1 certificate requires that level in speaking and in at least one of the other two sections: listening and reading, or writing. A strong result in one can compensate for a poor result in the other.

According to ministry information cited by the newspaper, some participants bought questions and answers online. They scored points on the 45-question listening and reading block while leaving blank the task requiring them to write a short message.

Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt intends to end that possibility. Under the changes described by Bild, an exam would not count as passed if a section was inadequately completed. The ministry cites fraud prevention and the importance of written German for independent integration.

A total of 318550 people took the exam in the previous year. Of those, 175193 achieved B1, or 55%. Another 32.2% reached A2, while 12.8% did not reach that level.