Is my CEFR level the same as my vocabulary level?

Not exactly. CEFR describes what you can do across listening, speaking, reading and writing. A vocabulary test measures one ingredient of that, so VocabHang says your vocabulary is “consistent with” a band rather than that you “are” that band. Vocabulary is the ingredient that predicts the others best, and the one that grows most visibly.

Why does my level show as a range like B1–B2 instead of one letter?

Because an estimate from a few dozen words has real uncertainty, and hiding it would be dishonest. The dark part of the bar is where your vocabulary most likely sits; the lighter part is the wider range we cannot rule out yet. Every harder word you are tested on narrows it. When the likely range is about one band wide, we call it settled.

Why did my range get wider or drop a level?

A range widens or drops when new evidence contradicts the old. The most common case: a conversation produced many words you know, which sets a floor but says nothing about the ceiling, and then a few harder words you did not know arrived. When a settled reading drops a band, the bar says so and why.

Why are your vocabulary numbers bigger than the ones in my textbook?

Textbook figures count the common core a learner is taught at each level, often in word families. VocabHang counts dictionary headwords you would recognise across a pool of tens of thousands, including the long tail of rarer words that a B2 reader meets and understands without ever studying them. Compare numbers only within one test.

How do I move up a level?

By knowing more of the words just beyond your current range, and using them. The tutor brings those words into conversation about your own life and brings them back later until they stick. The bar moves when the words you know move, and the vocabulary number moves first, weeks before a whole band changes.

English levels explained: A1 to C2

The six CEFR levels in plain words, what a learner at each one can do, how many English words each one tends to come with, and how a test can place you on the scale honestly.

What the CEFR scale is

The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) is the shared scale teachers, examiners and employers use to describe how well someone uses a language. It has six levels in three pairs: A1 and A2 for basic users, B1 and B2 for independent users, C1 and C2 for proficient users. Each level is defined by what you can do, not by a syllabus, which is why a score on one exam can be compared with a course in another country.

The scale covers listening, speaking, reading and writing together. Vocabulary is not a separate level, but it is the ingredient that predicts the rest best: you cannot follow a news report or hold a discussion with words you do not know. That is why a vocabulary test can place you consistently with a band, and why VocabHang uses exactly that wording.

The six levels, with vocabulary sizes

The word counts below are headwords you would recognise, measured across VocabHang’s pool of tens of thousands of words with a calibrated difficulty each. They are larger than the figures in course books, which count only the taught core. The ranges are read from the same curve the test uses, so they match the number you see on your own result.

A1 · beginner (Breakthrough)

You know everyday words for yourself, your family and your surroundings, and can follow very short, simple sentences when the other person speaks slowly.

Up to roughly 3,500 words recognised

A2 · elementary (Waystage)

You can handle routine exchanges — shopping, directions, work and family — and understand short, simple texts about familiar things.

Roughly 3,500–7,000 words recognised

B1 · intermediate (Threshold)

You can follow a conversation about work, school or your interests, describe experiences and plans, and read straightforward articles on topics you know.

Roughly 7,000–13,000 words recognised

B2 · upper-intermediate (Vantage)

You can take part in a discussion with native speakers without strain, follow most news and films, and read articles outside your own field.

Roughly 13,000–21,500 words recognised

C1 · advanced (Effective operational proficiency)

You understand long, demanding texts and implied meaning, and express yourself fluently with the right word for most situations, including specialised ones.

Roughly 21,500–30,000 words recognised

C2 · near-native (Mastery)

You understand virtually everything you hear or read, including idiom and nuance, with a vocabulary close to an educated native speaker's.

Roughly 30,000 words or more recognised

How a test places you on the scale

Every word in the pool has a difficulty, and every learner has an ability, on one shared scale. If your ability is well above a word’s difficulty you almost certainly know it; well below, you almost certainly do not; near it, it is a coin toss. A test learns most from the coin tosses, so each word is chosen near the current estimate, and the estimate moves with every answer.

The result is a range, not a point. It starts wide and narrows as evidence arrives; the bar shows the likely range in a dark band and the wider range we cannot rule out in a lighter one.
The quick test shows one word at a time and asks whether you know it. Every 4th word is made up; saying yes to those lowers the weight of your other yeses. It stops after 12 to 30 real words, when the range is tight enough to report.
In conversation the evidence is different: the words you use yourself set a floor (you clearly know them), and the occasional word you do not know sets a ceiling. A learner who only ever meets words they know has a firm floor and a vague ceiling, so their range stays wide at the top until a harder word is tested.
Levels are the bands of the words you know, not a certificate. The scale moves slowly: a whole band is thousands of words. The vocabulary number moves first, which is why it is worth watching.

Take the three-minute test, or read how vocabulary size is counted.

Questions people ask

Is my CEFR level the same as my vocabulary level?: Not exactly. CEFR describes what you can do across listening, speaking, reading and writing. A vocabulary test measures one ingredient of that, so VocabHang says your vocabulary is “consistent with” a band rather than that you “are” that band. Vocabulary is the ingredient that predicts the others best, and the one that grows most visibly.
Why does my level show as a range like B1–B2 instead of one letter?: Because an estimate from a few dozen words has real uncertainty, and hiding it would be dishonest. The dark part of the bar is where your vocabulary most likely sits; the lighter part is the wider range we cannot rule out yet. Every harder word you are tested on narrows it. When the likely range is about one band wide, we call it settled.
Why did my range get wider or drop a level?: A range widens or drops when new evidence contradicts the old. The most common case: a conversation produced many words you know, which sets a floor but says nothing about the ceiling, and then a few harder words you did not know arrived. When a settled reading drops a band, the bar says so and why.
Why are your vocabulary numbers bigger than the ones in my textbook?: Textbook figures count the common core a learner is taught at each level, often in word families. VocabHang counts dictionary headwords you would recognise across a pool of tens of thousands, including the long tail of rarer words that a B2 reader meets and understands without ever studying them. Compare numbers only within one test.
How do I move up a level?: By knowing more of the words just beyond your current range, and using them. The tutor brings those words into conversation about your own life and brings them back later until they stick. The bar moves when the words you know move, and the vocabulary number moves first, weeks before a whole band changes.

Take the 3-minute vocabulary test

3 minutes of spoken conversation with no account · 30 minutes a day once you sign in, free while we launch · no card needed