Language tests

In order to successfully complete your academic exchange, it is essential that you are able to follow  courses in the language in which they will be taught. In addition, some partner universities require you to present a language certificate, in which case passing a language test is compulsory before you can go on exchange.

You will find specific information about language requirements on the partner universities’ exchange sites, which you can find on our website. Please note that partner universities may change their language requirements for exchanges from one year to the next.

In any case, we strongly recommend that you take a language test to ensure that you have a sufficient level of language to follow the courses at your host university.

Language tests are taken after the selection.

Exchange to the USA, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom

The students selected for an exchange in the USA, Canada, Australia or the United Kingdom must pass a language test according to the requirement of the host university.
The English certificate obtained for the test of the 1st Bachelor year is not accepted.

The test is refunded by EPFL for the first attempt only. In order to receive a refund, please send the invoice of the course, the attestation of participation to the course as well as your bank details by email to the Student Exchange Office.

Universities in the USATests accepted and level required by the host universityDeadline to pass the test
Carnegie Mellon Universitysee the website of the partnerMarch 15
Johns Hopkins Universitysee the website of the partnerMarch 15
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaignsee fact sheet (PDF document) on the website of the partner universitiesJanuary 31
University of California, San Diegosee the website of the partnerJanuary 31
University of Washington, Seattlesee the website of the partnerFebruary 15
Universities in AustraliaTests accepted and level required by the host universityDeadline to pass the test
University of New South Walessee the website of the partnerFebruary 15
University of Sydneysee the website of the partnerFebruary 15
Universities in CanadaTests accepted and level required by the host universityDeadline to pass the test
McGill Universitysee the website of the partnerFebruary 15
University of Torontosee the website of the partnerFebruary 15
University of British Columbiasee the website of the partnerFebruary 15
University of Waterloosee the website of the partnerFebruary 15
Polytechnique de Montréalno English test required, courses in French
Université de Montréalno English test required, courses in French
Université Laval, Québecno English test required, courses in French

Exchange to all other destinations

The language tests for German, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese are organized by the Language Center.

The tests take place in person at the Language Center on following dates:

  • Thursday 7 March 2024 : 6-8pm
  • Saturday 9 March 2024 : 12-2pm and 2-4pm
  • Thursday 21 March 2024 : 6-8pm
  • Saturday 23 March 2024 : 12-2pm and 2-4pm

The registration for the test is done in the student portal in IS-Academia (tab Language Center) between 29th February and 6th March 2024.

English test
If you have passed an English test at the Language Center during the 1st Bachelor year you need to provide the attestation which you can download in IS-Academia, to the host university who requires an English certificate (except for USA/Canada/Australia/UK which require a TOEFL, IELTs, etc.).

Certain universities do not require any language certificate. Please verify this information on the university’s webpage.

Australia See above table under paragraph Exchange to the USA, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom
Austria German if courses in the study plan are in German only
English if courses in the study plan are in English only
German and English if courses in the study plan are in both languages
Belgium English, if flemish host university and at UCL – Ecole Polytechnique de Louvain. KU Leuven – Faculty of Engineering Sciences: IELTS, TOEFL or CAE to provide for non-Europeans. 
No test for other universities
Brazil Portuguese
Canada See above table under paragraph Exchange to the USA, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom
Chile Spanish
China English
Czech Republic English
Denmark English
Finland English
France English if courses from the study plan are in English
Germany German if courses in the study plan are in German only
English if courses in the study plan are in English only
German and English if courses in the study plan are in both languages
For TU Berlin: German in any case + English if courses in English
India English
Italy Italian.
Politecnico di Torino : Italian if courses in the study plan are in Italian only.
English if courses in the study plan are in English only. Italian and English is courses in both languages.
Ireland English
Israel English
Japan English test at EPFL + certificate of Japanese level (eg. course attestation)
Mexico Spanish and English
Norway English
Netherlands English. TU Eindhoven: TOEFL,  IELTS or CAE required for non-Europeans
Portugal Portuguese. Except Instituto Superior Tecnico (IST) : English if courses at master level and/or Portuguese if courses at bachelor level
Singapore English
South Korea English
Spain Spanish
Sweden English
Switzerland ETHZ: language of the majority of courses (German or English)
Mendrisio: Italian
United Kingdom See above table under paragraph Exchange to the USA, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom
United States of America See above table under paragraph Exchange to the USA, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom
Turkey English