Language Requirements 2024-25
Undergraduate students (AY 2024/25)
Minimum Language Requirements
Level B2 or higher for English, proved by one of the options listed below:
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University Language Exam
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International Certification
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Enrolment in a Degree Program entirely taught in English
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Secondary School Diploma – Please contact the Study Abroad office providing any document which can be useful to evaluate your case
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Citizenship
Level B1 or higher for all the other languages, proved by one of the options listed below:
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University Language Exam
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Enrollment in the Bocconi Second Language Course
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International Certification
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Secondary School Diploma
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Bocconi Language Center course (for Portuguese only)
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Citizenship
Please click on the boxes below in order to verify how to fulfill the Minimum Language Requirements for 2024-25 selection.
Applicants with the Bocconi exam already registered in their study plan (level B2 for English, level B1 for other languages) do not have to submit any certificate at the time of application to the program unless requested by the destinations they apply for (check the Destinations’ list).
Language certificates must be submitted at the time of application to the program at Punto Blu by the set deadlines and must respect the following parameters:
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be among the ones recognized by Bocconi Language Center (IELTS INDICATOR and TOEFL ESSENTIALS are NOT recognized);
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be valid at the moment of the Exchange Program application: TOEFL and IELTS test must have been awarded no more than 2 years prior to the Exchange Program application deadline. All the other certificates must have been awarded no more than 3 years prior to the Exchange Program application deadline;
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the certification must be equal to or higher than the required level or grade (B2). For the minimum scores accepted, please refer to the Bocconi Language Center tables.
International Certification Exam
English Language Certification | Minimum Score accepted |
CPE (Certificate Proficiency English) | C1 Pass |
CAE (Certificate Advanced English) | B2 Pass (160) |
BEC VANTAGE (Business English Certificate Vantage) | B2 bus – C (160) |
BEC HIGHER (Business English Certificate Higher) | B2 bus Pass (160) |
BEC PRELIMINARY (Business English Certificate Preliminary) | B1 bus - A (160) |
IELTS ACADEMIC/Online |
overall ≥ 6.0 no part lower than 5.0 |
TOEFL IBT / Home Edition | 80-81 |
Please refer to the CONVERSION TABLES for Students enrolled in BSc Progams taught in Italian
Language certificates must be submitted at the time of application to the program at Punto Blu by the set deadlines and must respect the following parameters:
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the certification must be among the ones recognized by Bocconi Language Center ;
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For the Spanish language, the Study Abroad office accepts for the exchange application, the SIELE GLOBAL certificate (in on-site or remote mode);
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the language certification must be valid at the moment of the Exchange Program application: it must have been awarded no more than 3 years prior to the Exchange Program application deadline;
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the certification must be equal to or higher than the required level or grade (B1). For the minimum scores accepted, please refer to the Bocconi Language Center tables.
For schools for which a B1 level knowledge of Spanish/French/German is required, the minimum language requirement is considered temporarily fulfilled if the student is enrolled in the Bocconi language course of the language required by the school at the time of the selection.
In order to leave for the exchange, the final exam of that language (written and oral exam) must then be passed and registered by the June/July exam session. Selected students who do not pass the language exam by July 2024, will no longer be eligible to leave for the exchange and will be automatically excluded from the program.
This rule and deadlines apply also to students on the waiting list for destinations for which the study plan second language is required.
Portuguese
For Portuguese language only: in order to confirm the selection, students who cannot satisfy the minimum Portuguese language requirement according to one of the options listed above, will have to compulsorily attend and complete the course "Lingua portoghese" provided by the Bocconi Language Center.
For detailed information and registration, see the dedicated page on the Language Center website and the Guidelines.
Citizens from a country where English, French, Germany, Portuguese or Spanish is the first language, can certify their language proficiency by submitting their passport at the time of application to the program at Punto Blu by the set deadlines.
However, please note that ALL Bocconi students, even the ones who are mother tongue in English, French, German or Spanish MUST submit an international certificate if interested in applying for destinations where the certificate is needed to satisfy the ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS (ex. a British student MUST submit the TOEFL or the IELTS certificate if interested in applying for University of Pennsylvania).
For more details, see the section below “Additional requirements”.
Additional Language requirements (for certain schools)
On top of the Exchange program minimum requirements, some partner schools have additional requirements such as language, GPA, etc.
Check the destinations list for additional academic/language requirements.
The additional language requirements are IN ADDITION to the minimum requirements. Applicants must provide ONE of the options listed.
For regulations about the certificate VALIDITY please take into consideration the following:
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TOEFL and IELTS certificates must have been awarded not more than two years prior to the departure date for the Exchange period (please consider also second semester departure)*
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All the other certificates must have been awarded not more than three years prior to the to the departure date for the Exchange period (please consider also second semester departure)*
For the semester dates please refer to the undergraduate destinations list.
(*)If students wants to be considered eligible for a specific destination, with a set number of slots available per term (ex. 4 slots in total, of which 2 for the Fall and 2 for the Spring term) and additional language requirements are specified, they must have a certificate valid for both terms indicated on the destinations brochure.
The IELTS certificates must be ACADEMIC.
As per the TOEFL certificates, the "My best scores" section and its results will not be taken into consideration. Please check the 2024-25 destinations list to know which Partner Universities accept the TOEFL Home Edition/IELTS online as additional, the document can be used as a reference taking into account that some information may change).
Moreover, depending on the students' nationality and on the partner university's country, additional/other proof of Language ability may be required in order to comply with Immigration Policies (it is the students' responsibility to check the relevant Immigration websites).
ALL Bocconi students, even the ones who are mother tongue in English, French, German or Spanish MUST submit an international certificate if interested in applying for destinations where the certificate is needed to satisfy the ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS (ex. a British student MUST submit the TOEFL or the IELTS certificate if interested in applying for University of Pennsylvania).