In short: not the end of the world — we retake it as many times as it takes
How many times can you retake it?
As many as you need: there is no limit on attempts, for either exam. You register for the next date again.
Retake the whole exam, or just the part you failed?
The whole exam. A new registration, a new sitting, all three parts again — results from the parts you passed do not carry over.
What does a retake cost?
The same as the first attempt: 57 € for the language exam at A2 level (52 € for A1) and 21 € for the Constitution.
When is the next date?
Language — October 7 and November 11; registration closes 7 days before the exam. Constitution — September 24, November 10 and December 8; booking no later than 15 days ahead.
One exam passed, the other not — retake both?
No. A passed exam has no expiry date, so you only retake the one you didn’t pass.
The result is A1 instead of A2 — does that count?
No: permanent residence and citizenship require A2. And if you sat the exam for a permanent residence permit, an A1 certificate is not issued at all — that is stated in the NŠA results-evaluation rules. A1 as a level matters for work: since 1 January 2026 basic Lithuanian is required of anyone serving customers directly. A breakdown by occupation and deadline: what level you need for work.
How do you find out which part failed?
It depends on how you registered. The NŠA personal account shows a detailed table with per-part scores. Via MIGRIS there are no results at all — everything goes through the school where you sat the exam, and one school will tell you only whether you passed while another emails the full scores. If you registered via MIGRIS, the simplest route is to email the school and ask directly.
If the scores did not arrive on their own, try asking the school for them by email. Preparing is a little easier once you know exactly where the weak spots are.
Can the result be challenged? Is there an appeal?
Yes. If you disagree with the assessment, you have 2 working days after the results are published to submit an appeal for re-assessment to the Director of the National Agency for Education. The signed appeal goes to info@nsa.smsm.lt. The window is short, so check the result as soon as it appears — the procedure on the NŠA site.
What the result means: A2, A1 or "not passed"
The Lithuanian exam is a single exam with three parts: reading and writing, listening, and speaking. Each part is assessed separately, and the overall result adds up like this:
- all three parts at A2 → result "A2";
- at least one part only at A1 → result "A1";
- at least one part not passed → "not passed".
Permanent residence and citizenship require an A2 result. An A1 result does not count for them: the exam is formally passed, but the certificate won’t work for those documents.
The Constitution exam is simpler: 20 multiple-choice questions, with a minimum of 14 correct answers to pass. The test is computer-based and the result appears on screen immediately — and that is the moment to read it: you cannot come back to the account later and look it up.
Full breakdowns of both formats are in our guides How the Lithuanian A2 exam works and The Lithuanian Constitution exam.
How many attempts, and what a retake costs
There is no cap on attempts. Registering for the next date is an ordinary registration, exactly like the first one, and it is paid for again.
One important consequence: a passed exam has no expiry date and does not lapse. If the Constitution is passed but the language is not, only the language exam needs retaking — the Constitution result stays valid even if you sit the language exam a year later.
When the next attempt is possible
Both exams are held six times a year, but they are booked through different portals with different deadlines — and that is where a whole session most often gets lost.
- Lithuanian language exam — NŠA. Registration opens 30 days before the exam and closes 7 days before it. There are up to 800 places per session across Lithuania, and in Vilnius and the larger cities they go quickly.
- Constitution exam — MIGRIS only. Registration no later than 15 calendar days before the date.
Lithuanian language exam, remaining dates in 2026:
Constitution Basics exam, remaining dates in 2026:
These booking windows are calculated from the portals' own rules: NŠA opens registration 30 days ahead and closes it 7 days ahead, MIGRIS accepts applications no later than 15 days ahead. The exact window is always shown on the portal itself at the moment of booking — go by that. The nearest date with a countdown and a map of exam centres is on the homepage.
One more thing about timing: the official result of the language exam appears in your NŠA personal account within 15 working days; the certificate itself can be ready a few days earlier or later. How the result reaches you depends on where you registered — see above.
How to register for the Lithuanianand Constitution exams A step-by-step guide from scratch: screenshots, video instructions and current data.
If the result came out as A1 instead of A2
Formally this is not a fail: the exam is passed and a level is confirmed. But permanent residence and citizenship require A2 specifically, so the path is the same — register for the next date and sit it again.
The good news is that A2 is usually closer than it feels. The thresholds per part are:
| Exam part | A1 | A2 |
|---|---|---|
| Reading and writing | from 13 | from 17 |
| Listening | from 6 | from 6 |
| Speaking | from 5 | from 6 |
In listening the A1 and A2 thresholds are identical: if that part counted, there is nothing to add there. The gap between the levels sits mostly in reading and writing.
Speaking has its own trap. There are three situations, each scored 0–3, plus up to 1 point from the interviewing examiner. For A2 a total of 6 points is not enough — at least two situations together must add up to 5. So 2+2+1 plus the interviewer’s point is the same 6 points but still only A1, while 3+2+0 with that point is already A2.
Where to start: part by part
The point of a second attempt is not to prepare for everything from scratch. Look at which part fell short and work on that one.
Reading and writing
The heaviest part in terms of the gap between levels (13 → 17 points) and the longest: 9 tasks in 1 hour 30 minutes. What is usually missing is not grammar but vocabulary on the exam topics, plus speed — there is no time to search your memory for a word. Short daily practice on exam vocabulary is what moves this: the trainer is built for exactly that.
Listening
4 tasks, 25 minutes, in headphones. The only thing that reliably helps is listening to real speech at normal pace, regularly — exercises alone won’t carry this part. A convenient entry point: LRT Paprastai, news in simplified Lithuanian with both text and audio.
Speaking
15 minutes of face-to-face conversation. What is assessed is not elegance but the ability to speak: talk about yourself, describe a picture, read a short notice and answer questions about it, ask questions of your own. The most trainable of these is picture description — it has a predictable structure and can be rehearsed until it runs on autopilot.
Constitution
20 questions, a threshold of 14, everything in Lithuanian: no translation is provided and dictionaries are not allowed. There is no need to memorise the text — the questions test how the state is organised: who appoints whom, how many votes, what terms apply. It is more practical to read the text once for the map of it, then close the weak sections by drilling questions.
How much time to allow for the second attempt
There are usually six to eight weeks between sessions, and that is the natural preparation window. A2 is realistically reachable in a month to six weeks with 30–60 minutes of daily work, as long as the effort stays focused: not "all of Lithuanian", but the specific part that fell short.
A practical order: start with a diagnostic to see the current level in numbers, then short daily sessions on the weak topics, and closer to the date — a full run in exam format.
