Short version, if you're here for the headline: the speaking part of the A2 permanent residency exam is 15 minutes, 4 tasks, and 40 points. To pass, you need at least 24 of 40 — and it's scored separately from the written parts. A brilliant reading score won't save a failed speaking score: you retake the entire exam.
The math follows from there: speaking is the most expensive part of the exam (40 points against 25 for reading, 25 for listening, and 20 for writing), and the only one you can't coast through.
How the whole exam is structured
| Part | Time | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Čtení (reading) | 40 min | 25 |
| Psaní (writing) | 25 min | 20 |
| Poslech (listening) | ~40 min | 25 |
| Mluvení (speaking) | 15 min | 40 |
The passing score is where everyone gets confused. It's not "60% in each part." It's:
- reading + writing + listening — combined minimum of 42 out of 70 (60%);
- speaking — separately, minimum 24 out of 40 (60%).
Fail either half and you retake the entire exam. It costs 3,200 Kč, and you can sit it a maximum of 3 times a year. There are no free vouchers: they were discontinued on August 31, 2023, though plenty of articles online still describe them as available.
The exam is run by the Národní pedagogický institut ČR; its official name is "Zkouška z českého jazyka pro trvalý pobyt v ČR, úroveň A2."
What the 40 points are made of
37 points for content, 3 points for pronunciation.
Worth clearing up the pronunciation myth right away: those three points are a
criterion applied across the entire speaking part, not a separate fifth task and not
something new in 2026. Nobody sits you down to read a list of words containing ř out
loud. The examiner is simply listening for whether your speech is intelligible across all
15 minutes.
The tasks:
| # | Task | What you do | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Odpovědi na otázky | Answer 8 questions | 8 |
| 2 | Dialogy | You ask the questions, in two situations | 12 |
| 3 | Vyprávění podle obrázků | Tell a story from 4 pictures | 10 |
| 4 | Řešení situace | Negotiate a decision with the examiner | 7 |
Notice the weighting: the most expensive task is the dialogues (12 points), and in it you're the one asking questions, not answering them. Most people prepare for exactly the opposite skill.
Task 1. Odpovědi na otázky — 8 points
Eight questions across two topics (4 + 4). You know the topics in advance — they come from the official list (see below). You don't know the exact questions.
Three rules people trip over:
- Answer in a full sentence. For "Kde jste byl včera večer?" the answer is "Včera večer jsem byl v kině," not "V kině." A one-word answer isn't A2-level speech, and it won't earn the point.
- The verb tense has to match the question. Asked about the past — answer in the past. Asked "Co budete dělat o víkendu?" — you need the future tense.
- Every answer needs a verb in the correct form. A verb, specifically — not just a string of nouns.
| Kde jste byl minulý víkend? | Where were you last weekend? | Answer: Minulý víkend jsem byl u kamaráda v Brně. |
| Co děláte ve volném čase? | What do you do in your free time? | Answer: Ve volném čase rád chodím na procházky a čtu. |
| Jak často chodíte k lékaři? | How often do you go to the doctor? | Answer: K lékaři chodím jednou za rok, když nejsem nemocný. |
Task 2. Dialogy — 12 points
Two dialogues, and this is the most expensive task in the exam. Working from a prompt card, you have to ask the questions yourself: three given points plus one question of your own. The situations are everyday ones — say, a hotel reception desk or a laptop shop.
Where people fail:
- Forgetting their own fourth question. They ask the three points on the card and stop there. That costs points: the candidate's own initiative is scored separately.
- Using informal address. The person you're talking to in this scene is a stranger (a clerk, a receptionist), which means formal address is mandatory: "Máte volný pokoj?", not "Máš volný pokoj?".
- Asking yes/no questions. "Máte notebooky?" is a weak question. "Jaké notebooky máte do dvaceti tisíc?" is a strong one.
| Kolik stojí pokoj na jednu noc? | How much does a room cost for one night? | Hotel: asking about the price. |
| Je v ceně snídaně? | Is breakfast included in the price? | Hotel: asking about services. |
| Můžete mi doporučit nějaký model? | Can you recommend a model? | Shop: your own, fourth question. |
| Jak dlouho trvá záruka? | How long is the warranty? | Shop: a good "own" question — not yes/no. |
Task 3. Vyprávění podle obrázků — 10 points
Four pictures, and you have to tell the story they show. At least one sentence per picture.
Two conditions people break most often:
- Strictly past tense. This is a story about something that already happened: "Pan Novák šel do obchodu," not "Pan Novák jde do obchodu."
- Tell the story of the people in the pictures, not your own. A classic trap: someone sees a café scene and starts with "Já taky rád chodím do kavárny…" That's not the task. You're asked to narrate the characters' story.
Useful connectors to keep the story from breaking into four disconnected sentences:
| Nejdřív… | First… | Nejdřív si pan Novák sbalil kufr. |
| Potom / pak… | Then… | Potom jel na nádraží. |
| Ale bohužel… | But unfortunately… | Ale bohužel mu ujel vlak. |
| Nakonec… | In the end… | Nakonec si musel koupit nový lístek. |
Task 4. Řešení situace — 7 points
You need to agree on something with the examiner: picking a gift, a meeting place, an evening plan. You have three options shown as pictures.
The mechanics of this task are tricky, and almost no one explains them:
- you have to propose all three options — not stop at the first one;
- each one needs a justification ("Proč?" is a mandatory part of the answer);
- the examiner will reject the first two. That doesn't mean you're speaking poorly. It's built into the task: it's testing your persistence and your ability to offer an alternative;
- the person you're talking to plays a friend here, which means informal address is mandatory: "Co kdybychom šli do kina?", not "Co kdybyste šel do kina?".
Switching between formal address in the second task and informal address in the fourth is one of the most common mistakes on the exam. This needs to be practiced out loud, because in your head you, of course, "already get it."
| Co kdybychom mu koupili knihu? | What if we bought him a book? | Proposing an option, informal address. |
| Myslím, že by se mu to líbilo, protože rád čte. | I think he'd like it, because he likes to read. | Justification — a mandatory part of the answer. |
| Tak dobře, a co třeba lístky do divadla? | All right then, what about theater tickets? | Your move after the first rejection. |
The 14 official topics
The topics are known in advance; there are fourteen: personal details and family · housing · food · daily routine · free time · work · health and insurance · shopping and services · travel · education · dealing with government offices · contact with the police and emergency services · environment and weather · contact with society.
The two bolded ones are exactly the life you're already living here. We covered the phrases for them in Czech for government offices and the foreign police (cizinecká policie): prepping for the exam also means you stop dreading the counter window.
What changed as of April 11, 2026
Short version: not what everyone assumes.
- The level stayed A2. The certificate and dates are unchanged.
- The point split (25 / 20 / 25 / 40) didn't change.
- The task types in writing and speaking changed: writing now leans on interaction; speaking got more topics and more initiative expected from the candidate.
- A2-level vocabulary became an explicit scoring component in both parts.
What did not happen: a "phonetics section added in April 2026, worth 3 points." No such task exists — the three pronunciation points have always been there, applied across the whole speaking part. If an article is scaring you with a new phonetics task, it's copied from someone else's secondhand summary.
The official NPI press release on the format change is a page and a half, a five-minute read.
Official materials — go to the source
Don't trust secondhand summaries, including this one: everything is available from the organizer, free, in the actual exam format.
- Sample test 1 (new format) and Sample test 2
- "Na co si dát pozor" — the organizer's own breakdown of common mistakes in writing and speaking
- Příručka pro uchazeče 2026
- Interactive sample test
- Where to take the exam · registration
The real reason people fail isn't the format
The format of the speaking part takes an evening to learn — you just read the whole thing. That's not why people fail the exam.
They fail because someone has lived in the Czech Republic for two years, understands everything — and has never once spoken out loud for fifteen straight minutes. The examiner's office is where it happens for the first time. The head knows the answer, the mouth won't open, the clock runs, no points get scored.
There's exactly one fix: speak out loud before the exam, not during it. Every day, a little at a time, with feedback. We broke down why that is, and why understanding doesn't turn into speech on its own, in Understand But Can't Speak.
And here are all the options for finding someone to talk to, from conversation clubs to AI. More exam material lives in the A2/B1 Exam section.