| Class timetable
| Number of students
per class
Levels and duration
The Common Framework of Reference (CEFR) for languages developed by the Council of Europe, an international standard and common basis for foreign language education, organises language proficiency in six levels, A1 to C2, which can be regrouped into three broad levels: basic user (A1and A2), independent user (B1 and B2) and proficient user (C1 and C2). The levels are defined through ‘can-do’ descriptors which specify progressive mastery of each skill, which is graded on a six-level scale as mentioned before:
A1: 60 hours
A2: 90 hours
B1: 120 hours
B2: 150 hours
C1: 180 hours
C2: 210 hours
All in all, based on the minimum number of hours suggested by the Instituto Cervantes for each level (shown above, although the total duration of each level depends also on the actual capacities of each student and type of course selected), at least 810 hours are recommended for a student to go all the way from absolute beginner to reach and complete the C2 level.