2023 UN Level I Pilot Examination

2023 UN Level I Pilot Examination in Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian

All Secretariat staff have the opportunity to be among the first to participate in a new language assessment opportunity, the UN I Examination Pilot.

Offered this fall in four languages — Arabic, Chinese, French, and Russian — the UN I exam assesses basic proficiency and is an opportunity to earn a certificate of achievement at UN Level I – Basic Language Competence, according to the UN Language Framework.

Applications to the UN I Examination Pilot

The UN Level I Examination Pilot in 2023 is offered by the Language Training Programme (Geneva) and the Language and Communications Training Unit (New York), and with the generous support of l’Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie.

Exams are tentatively scheduled for 10-11 October and the registration window is now open. Availability is limited and applications will be processed in the order in which they are received.

To be eligible for the exam, applicants must:

• Be a UN Secretariat staff member, regardless of duty station, on the date of the exam. All other personnel are not eligible for the 2023 UN I pilot edition, even if they are actively enrolled in language courses.
• Have completed at least 150 hours of study in their selected language, either at a UN Language Programme or an equivalent course of study.

​​Active participation in language courses is not a requirement to apply for the 2023 UN I Examination Pilot. 

Applications for the exam pilot are available on Inspira under the following LMS codes:

• Arabic UN Level I Exam Pilot (2023), LMS-7397
• Chinese UN Level I Exam Pilot (2023), LMS-7396
• French UN Level I Exam Pilot (2023), LMS-7399
• Russian UN Level I Exam Pilot (2023), LMS-7398

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Information and support for UN I Examination Pilot applicants

Registered applicants will receive regular updates and tips to prepare for the exam. 

Questions regarding the 2023 UN I Examination Pilot can be sent to languageexampilot@un.org.

UN Level I and UN Level II Pilot practice exams

The CDOTS Language and Communications Training Unit at UNHQ partners with the Language Training Programme at UNOG to advance in the harmonization of language learning and assessment across the Secretariat. 

In 2021-2022, a project to create exam specifications and marking schemes for the UN I-Basic and UN II-Intermediate levels was completed. The exams constructed in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish were piloted and updated following feedback; they will be gradually made available as practice exams.

UN I & UN II Language Exam Pilot Report