CEFR levels · VocabularyCEFR levels A1 to C2,
explained for vocabulary

The short answer

The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR, Council of Europe, 2001; Companion Volume 2020) has six levels: A1 and A2 (basic user), B1 and B2 (independent user), C1 and C2 (proficient user). Its descriptors say what a learner can understand and say, and its “vocabulary range” scale describes the range of words in plain words, not as a number (Council of Europe, level descriptions).

The table puts those descriptors beside two research estimates for learners of English. The descriptors are quoted as Nation’s table gives them (Paul Nation, “Vocabulary, the CEFR levels, and word family size” (Victoria University of Wellington, 2022)). Laufer (2020) puts B1 higher still, at about 4,000 words, as Nation also notes.

Why the numbers differ

• They count different things. Milton and Alexiou’s figures (2020, adapted from Milton 2009) are mean scores on X_Lex, a yes/no test of the 5,000 most frequent English words, so no score can pass 5,000. Nation counts words and word families from his own frequency lists (BNC/COCA); a word family is a base word with its common inflections and derivations, so teach, teacher and teaching count once.
• They measure different groups. Mean scores of learners who passed a level describe the people tested. A suggested size says what a level should need. Nation says his sizes from B2 upwards are “largely greater than others may recommend, for example Jim Milton”.
• Knowing a word is not one thing. Recognising a word when you read it comes before using it yourself. Test scores mostly measure recognition; see active and passive vocabulary.
• Languages differ. These figures are for English. A language with more compound words or more inflection counts out differently, and nobody has a table that converts one language into another.

So treat each range as an estimate, and the gap between sources as honest disagreement. A useful middle reading: B1 needs a few thousand of the most frequent words; C1 and C2 need many thousands, with idioms and colloquial words.

Other languages and other scales

• German: the Goethe-Institut publishes word lists for its A1, A2 and B1 exams. Use them to check your own notebook, not as a deck to memorise.
• Spanish: the Instituto Cervantes’ Plan curricular sorts vocabulary by level, A1 to C2, and the DELE exams follow the CEFR. How to learn Spanish vocabulary.
• French: the DELF and DALF diplomas are set at CEFR levels A1 to C2.
• Japanese: the JLPT (N5 to N1) is its own scale, not the CEFR. Since its 2010 revision it publishes no official list of vocabulary or kanji (JLPT FAQ). How to learn Japanese vocabulary.
• Chinese: the HSK has its own levels, revised in 2021 into nine bands; they are not CEFR levels.

How long each level takes

Cambridge English gives guided learning hours, the time in lessons plus set work, counted from zero, and says moving up one level takes about 200 hours (Cambridge English, guided learning hours, read 21 October 2026). They are a guideline: your own time depends on how close the language is to one you know and on how much you read and listen outside lessons.

From a number of words to words a day

If a level needs a few thousand words, the daily question is how many new ones you can keep. Reaching 3,000 words at 15 new words a day takes 200 days of adding, and the reviews they bring grow with them. Work out your own pace with the spaced repetition calculator, or read How many new words a day?

Tracking levels in your own notebook