The test, organized by the Department of Linguistic Policy, has generated an intense debate regarding its credibility and the validity of future results. The controversy stems from a half-hour break between the first and second parts of the exam, during which examinees had access to their answer booklets.
The exam structure comprises three parts: reading comprehension and written expression (57% of the grade), grammar and vocabulary, and an oral section. Candidates received two booklets, one for questions and another for answers. After the break, it was instructed that answers for the second part should be written in the same booklet that already contained the answers for the first part.
This circumstance allowed participants to consult doubts online, use dictionaries, or discuss with peers, review spelling and grammar, or even modify answers from the first part, which represents an unusual advantage in such tests.
It's an exam where everyone could cheat, and this delegitimizes the C2 test, the highest level one can achieve in the Catalan language.
Some candidates have expressed their outrage, while others argue that the 45 minutes allotted for the second part was insufficient to take advantage of the situation. The organization Plataforma per la Llengua has described the incident as an error and is considering filing a formal complaint.
For its part, the Department of Linguistic Policy defends the rigor of the test, arguing that the punctual modification of a few words should not affect the overall assessment of candidates' linguistic competence.
