🇱🇹 Exam guide · 8 October 2026 · 9 min
The Lithuanian State Language Exam: Categories I, II and III
The first thing to understand about the Lithuanian state language exam is that it does not award a Common European Framework level. It awards a category. The second is that Lithuanian splits unusually: the grammar is more approachable than its reputation, and the pronunciation is harder.
The official facts
Scoring: Marked out of 100, pass mark 60. The category awarded depends on the overall score.
Beyond the language: Naturalisation adds an exam on the Lithuanian Constitution.
These figures come from the exam board's published format. Fees and dates change, so check the official page before you book.
Categories, not levels
The exam is run by the National Agency for Education and the result is expressed as category I, II or III. These are not A2, B1 or B2. No official equivalence is published, and unofficial conversion tables circulate that do not hold up, so prepare from the published format and the sample papers instead.
Category I is the one that matters for most people: it is required for naturalisation and for many public sector posts. Naturalisation also adds a separate exam on the Constitution of Lithuania, which is a different preparation entirely.
You sit one exam and the category follows from the result, so there is nothing to choose at registration beyond the date.
The papers
The paper people underestimate
Writing includes a formal application. That is not a longer message, it is a genre with its own opening and closing formulas, and candidates who translate an English letter in their head produce something that reads wrong even when every word is correct. It is worth practising separately from ordinary writing.
The diacritics are also compulsory, and there are nine of them: ą, č, ę, ė, į, š, ų, ū, ž. A dropped mark is a different word, so install a Lithuanian keyboard layout at the start of your preparation, not the week before.
Lithuanian is the oldest living Indo-European language, and you can see it
Lithuanian kept forms that other European languages lost, which is why linguists keep reaching for it and why basic vocabulary often shows through if you speak another Indo-European language.
Six words where the family resemblance survives intact:
And where the real difficulty sits
Stress moves between forms of the same word, and ordinary written Lithuanian does not mark it. A word learned from the page is therefore a word you do not yet know how to say. This is the main argument for building your preparation around listening rather than reading.
On top of that, long syllables carry two distinct tones, rising and falling, and the difference can distinguish words. English does not have this, and neither does Russian: you have stress, but not pitch contrast on the stressed syllable. It cannot be learned from a description, only from repeated listening and imitation.
The practical conclusion runs against instinct. Do not spend your preparation on grammar, which will come faster than you expect. Spend it on your ears and your mouth.
A four-week plan
On the day
- Photo ID required
- Register with the centre in advance
- No dictionary
Practising pronunciation without a partner
Tone and mobile stress are the one part of Lithuanian you cannot take from a textbook. They need to be heard, imitated, and corrected.
In OpiFluent the tutor speaks Lithuanian with you and explains the correction in your own language, including why a word sounded wrong. It marks written answers, formal application included, and a separate mode runs the papers against the clock in the published format.
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