TORFL exam in Moscow

International certificate of Russian TORFL

At the end of the Russian group, individual or combined course, each of our students receives the school’s certificate indicating the type, length and the exact dates of the study program.

We also invite our students to take an exam of Russian as a Foreign Language (TORFL; тест на знание русского языка как иностранного, ТРКИ) and to obtain the international TORFL certificate required for work and residence in Russia.


TRKI levels and cost

The level of language proficiency is the degree of practical communicative competency and necessary skills which allows foreigners to communicate in Russian. By 1999, in the theory and practice of Russian teaching RKI (Russian as a foreign language) a system of six levels of proficiency was developed and approved: elementary, basic, first, second, third and fourth level of certification. In all six levels, the skills and abilities of each candidates are measured in five aspects: reading, writing, listening, speaking, as well as grammatical knowledge.

A1 Elementary level (ТЭУ)

Recognises the ability for a foreigner to deal with native speakers, at a basic level, in a limited number of daily situations and with a minimal set of linguistic resources.


A2 Basic level (ТБУ)

Indicates the ability for a foreigner to deal with native speakers in a number of daily situations. This level is a necessary step to reach the first level of general proficiency in Russian. This level also provides the necessary basis for any professional activity or employment to a restricted extent. It is required to obtain the Russian citizenship.


B1First certification level (ТРКИ 1)

Certifies an intermediate communicative competency in various social, domestic, cultural, educational and professional environment. This certificate is required for admission to any university on the territory of the Russian Federation.

B2 Second certification level (ТРКИ 2)

Certifies a fairly high level of communicative competency in all spheres. This level allows a foreigner to practice a professional activity in Russia as a specialist in engineering, science and humanities (with the exception of professions such as philologists, translators, editors, journalists, diplomats, managers leading a Russian-speaking team). This certificate is required to obtain a master’s degree and PhD in the above specialities.


C1 Third certification level (ТРКИ 3)

Testifies a high level of communicative competency in all environment. This level provides an opportunity for candidates to conduct a professional activity in Russia as translator, editor, journalist, diplomat, manager of a Russian-speaking team. This certificate is necessary for obtaining Specialist, Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD degrees.


C2 Fourth certification level (ТРКИ 4)

Recognises the fluency of an applicant, close to the level of an educated native speaker. This certificate is needed to obtain a master’s degree in linguistic, as well as a diploma in philology, allowing you to teaching professions and research in sphere of Russian language.


TRKI exam duration and contents

Each Level contains five sections. Examinations are held over two days. On the first day, candidates are tested on lexical and grammatical knowledge, reading and listening. The writing and speaking sections are held on the second day. To receive the certificate corresponding to the level that you have chosen, you must obtain 66% or more in every section.

Elementary level (A1)
3.30 hours

Vocabulary and grammar (50 minutes): a multiple choice questions with 110 items about basic grammar. A minimum vocabulary of 780 words is required.

Reading (50 minutes): candidates are asked to read and indicate the main point of a short simple text. This is a multiple choice test with 30 items.

Listening (30 minutes): students can understand a short and simple dialogue or monologue about everyday life, and get the main information out of it. This is a multiple questions task with 20 items.

Writing (50 minutes): the applicant is able to write a short text, letter, greeting card and to answer simple questions.

Speaking (30 minutes): candidates are expected to talk about themselves, ask and answer simple questions. Two examiners test the student. This test includes multiple choices questions.

Basic level (A2)
3.30 hours

Vocabulary and grammar (50 minutes): a multiple choice questions with 110 items about basic grammar (declination and conjugation). A minimum vocabulary of 1300 words is required.

Reading (50 minutes): students are asked to read and indicate the main point of a short simple text. This is a multiple choice test with 30 items.

Listening (35 minutes): candidates can understand a short and simple dialogue or monologue about everyday life, and get the main information out of it. This multiple choice task questions contains 30 items.

Writing (50 minutes): candidates are able to write a short text, letter, greeting card and to answer simple questions.

Speaking (25 minutes): students are expected to talk about themselves and answer simple questions. Two examiners test the student. This test includes multiple choice questions.

TORFL level 1 (B1)
3.50 hours

Vocabulary and grammar (60 minutes): a multiple choice questions test with 165 items to test the candidate’s grammatical knowledge. A minimum of 1300 words is required.

Reading (50 minutes): the candidate demonstrates his ability to read small authentic texts and to get information out of it. This multiple choice test contains 20 items.

Listening (35 minutes): students will listen both dialogues and monologues about different topics and should answer multiple choice questions of 30 items.

Writing (60 minutes): the applicant is able to reproduce the main information from a text and to create their own production of no less than 110 words.

Speaking (25 minutes): candidates are expected to participate in a dialogue with two examiners.

TORFL level 2 (B2)
4.35 hours

Vocabulary and grammar (90 minutes): A multiple choice questions test with 100 items allowing students to show their knowledge of the language. This task is partly based on original texts. A minimum of 2300 words is required.

Reading (60 minutes): candidates are able to read, understand and make analysis of various authentic texts. This test contains 25 items.

Listening (40 minutes): with the support of different recordings (speeches, short part of films, plays, etc.) candidates must show their understanding in detail of the situations presented. 25 items are divided in four tasks:

  • short dialogue
  • discussion
  • public speech
  • TV or radio feature

Writing (55 minutes): students are able to complete three tasks:

  • the reproduction of a heard text in written form
  • the analysis of different information
  • the composition of short essay or article

Speaking (25 minutes): conducted by two examiners, three parts:

  • listening to a conversation, the replies of the candidate are recorded
  • role-play with an examiner
  • Interaction with an examiner: the candidate is expected to participate in a conversation and to express his opinion

TORFL level 3 (C1)
4.55 hours

Vocabulary and grammar (90 minutes): a multiple choice questions test of 165 items to test the applicant’s grammatical knowledge. A minimum of 5000 words is required.

Reading (90 minutes): candidates are expected to read, understand and make analyses of different cultural and business texts. This multiple choice questions test contains 25 items.

Listening (30 minutes): with the support of different recordings (speeches, short part of films, plays, etc.) applicants must show their understanding in detail of the situations presented. 25 items are divided in four tasks:

  • short dialogue
  • discussion
  • public speech
  • TV or radio feature

Writing (60 minutes): Students are able to complete three tasks from original materials:

  • reproduction of a heard text in written form
  • analysis of different information
  • composition of short essay or article to show their comprehension and to express their point of view.

Speaking (25 minutes): divided in two parts, this task requires from the students the ability to participate to a conversation and to initiate a dialogue with the examiner and lead the conversation on a topic. Candidates are tested by two examiners.

TORFL level 4 (C2)
4.35 hours

Vocabulary and grammar (60 minutes): candidates are able to use all grammatical structures and an extensive vocabulary. A minimum of 9000 words is required.

Reading (60 minutes): candidates should detail and analyse four texts (with the use of about 4000 words). Multiple choice questions test with 25 items.

Listening (50 minutes): this test contains four tasks and 25 items:

  • short dialogue
  • discussion
  • public speech
  • TV or radio feature

Writing (80 minutes): this test contains three tasks:

  • reproduction of read or heard texts
  • composition of two texts without any background materials

Speaking (45 minutes): Applicants will have to show their skills in prepared and unprepared speeches in front of two examiners. The test of 100 items contains the following tasks:

  • listening to a conversation, the replies of the candidate are recorded
  • role-play with an examiner
  • interaction with the examiner: the candidate is expected to participate in the conversation and to express his opinion
Please contact the school for more information about the exam dates.