CEFR Multilevel · Guides · November 5, 2026 · 6 min read
Multilevel scores and levels: the 0–75 scale, B1, B2 and C1 cut-offs and how each section is marked
In the CEFR Multilevel exam, each of the four sections — Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking — gets a score from 0 to 75. Your level is decided by the average of the four:
| Average of four sections | Level |
|---|---|
| 65–75 | C1 |
| 51–64 | B2 |
| 38–50 | B1 |
| 37 or lower | below B1, no certificate |
There is no C2 on this exam, and there is no separate pass mark per section: a strong section can pull up a weak one. The figures above come from the Knowledge and Skills Assessment Agency’s published scale (uzbmb.uz and gov.uz), checked on 5 November 2026.
A worked example
Dilnoza scores Listening 62, Reading 58, Writing 47 and Speaking 51. Her average is (62 + 58 + 47 + 51) ÷ 4 = 54.5, which is B2. If her Writing had been 40, the average would be 52.75 — still B2, but only just. If she wants C1, she needs an average of 65, which means a total of 260 across the four sections. From 218, that is 42 more points, and the cheapest place to find them is usually the section with the lowest score.
This is the main strategic idea of the exam: because the level is an average, you improve fastest by fixing your weakest section, not by polishing your best one.
How Listening and Reading are scored
Listening and Reading have 35 questions each and are marked by computer. Your score is not simply “correct answers × something”. The agency uses a statistical model (the Rasch model), which takes the difficulty of each question into account, so two candidates with the same number of correct answers on different versions of the paper can get slightly different scores.
The agency’s own guidance gives an approximate guide to raw scores:
| Correct answers out of 35 | Approximate level for that section |
|---|---|
| 28–35 | C1 |
| 18–27 | B2 |
| 10–17 | B1 |
Use this as a rough target. If you want C1 overall, aim for at least 28 in both Listening and Reading in practice, because they are usually the easiest sections to push up quickly.
How Writing is scored (new format)
Since October 2025, Writing has three tasks, each marked holistically by examiners:
| Task | What it is | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1.1 | informal message, about 50 words (B1) | 0–5 |
| 1.2 | formal letter, 120–150 words (B2) | 0–5 |
| 2 | blog post, forum post or article, 180–200 words (C1) | 0–6 |
The raw total out of 16 is converted to 0–75. Points from the agency’s conversion table:
| Raw (0–16) | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Out of 75 | 14 | 21 | 33 | 37 | 40 | 47 | 50 | 53 | 61 | 65 | 75 |
Notice what this means in practice. A candidate who gets 3 on every task (raw 9) has 50 — the top of B1. One extra point anywhere (raw 10) gives 53, which is B2 territory. And 14 out of 16 already gives 65, the C1 threshold.
Examiners look at task achievement, grammar, vocabulary, organisation, and spelling and punctuation. “3–4” means you met the level the task is aimed at; the top score means you went beyond it. Short texts lose marks: Task 1.1 is penalised if it falls between 25 and 60 words, and gets 0 at 24 words or fewer.
What separates a 3 from a 5 in Task 1.2
Imagine the stimulus is an email from a language centre announcing that evening classes will move online. A 3-level answer covers the three points but uses simple, repetitive language: “I am writing about the online classes. I don’t like online classes. I think classes in the centre are better.” A 5-level answer covers the same points and adds control:
I am writing regarding your decision to move the evening classes online from December. While I understand that this may reduce costs, I am concerned that speaking practice will suffer, as group discussions rarely work well on video calls. Would it be possible to keep at least one face-to-face session a week?
Same content, but now there is a polite purpose statement, a concession (While I understand…), a reason with an example and a concrete request. That is the difference examiners reward.
How Speaking is scored
Speaking has eight questions in three parts, recorded on computer and marked by examiners for grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, fluency and coherence.
| Part | Questions | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1.1 | 1–3 (about you) | 0–5 together |
| 1.2 | 4–6 (two photos and opinions) | 0–5 together |
| 2 | 7 (photo and three questions) | 0–5 |
| 3 | 8 (FOR / AGAINST argument) | 0–6 |
The raw total out of 21 converts to 0–75. Points from the agency’s table:
| Raw (0–21) | 3 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 10.5 | 13.5 | 14 | 18 | 21 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Out of 75 | 19 | 26 | 32 | 38 | 42 | 50 | 51 | 64 | 75 |
So 14 out of 21 is the start of B2 (51), and you need around 18 to sit near the top of B2. Off-topic or memorised answers can be scored 0, which is why learning a “universal speech” for Part 3 is a bad investment.
If your sections do not match
If your scores across sections look inconsistent — say, C1-level Reading next to a very weak Speaking — the agency’s rules allow Writing and Speaking to be checked again by another examiner. You do not need to request anything for this.
Validity and what the level is used for
The certificate is valid for two years. Within Uzbekistan it is used for university admission and for teachers’ qualifications and pay supplements; the exact benefit for each level is set by government regulations and changes, so check the current rules on uzbmb.uz or lex.uz before you plan around a particular credit. There is no official conversion between Multilevel scores and IELTS bands; tables you see online are guesses. We look at the two exams side by side in Multilevel vs IELTS.
Turning this into a target
- Take one timed section of each skill and convert your result with the tables above.
- Find the gap between your average and your target level.
- Put most of your time into the lowest section. For many candidates that is Writing, because a single extra point per task moves the converted score by 3–8 points.
Our Writing practice starts with Task 1.1 and 1.2: you get an approximate score on the exam’s 0–5 scale and a list of what to fix. For the overall plan, see how to prepare for the Multilevel exam, and for the structure of each part, the exam format.
Nomto is independent and not affiliated with the Knowledge and Skills Assessment Agency of Uzbekistan. Our scores are approximate estimates on the exam’s published scales, not official results.