Case Interview Language in Europe: English or Local?

The case interview language in Europe is set office by office: BCG Germany runs one case in German and one in English, BCG Switzerland German or French with at least one in English, and Bain Paris requires French and English at C1. This guide covers each office's rule, the test language, asking for English and preparing in a second language.

Most European consulting offices run at least part of the case interview in English, but many also test you in the local language, and a few state the level they expect. This page lists what each firm's own careers page says, office by office, as checked on 6 November 2026. Where a firm does not publish a rule, the table says "not stated" rather than guessing.

Is the case interview in German or English, or the local language?

It depends on the office, so "German or English" is often the wrong question: some interview in both, some require the local language at a stated level, and some work in English. Every official page we could load fits one of three patterns.

The three patterns, in words: in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, BCG mixes the local language with English inside one process. Bain Paris and BCG Italy require the local language at C1, the second-highest of the six Council of Europe CEFR levels. BCG's Nordic offices state English as the working language, and the London process runs in English.

Two things follow. First, if you apply in DACH, expect at least one case in German unless you are interviewing in Switzerland and say you are not fluent. Second, your language level is part of the screen at some offices, so state it honestly on your CV with the CEFR level, as the consulting Lebenslauf guide for Germany explains.

Which language does each office use? The official rules by country

BCG and Bain publish the clearest rules; most other firms state only the CV language or nothing. The table below covers every rule we found on an official page; "not stated" means we read the page and it says nothing on the point.

Bain's language lines come from the FAQ of Bainworks, its European student event, under "Which country should I apply to?" (the event itself is held in English). They are the only office-by-office language list Bain publishes, so treat them as the best public signal for regular Bain applications in those offices, not as a confirmed rule for every role.

The pages that say nothing on interview language, checked the same day: BCG France (its process page lists three rounds with a logic test and a written case), BCG Spain (applications open all year), BCG Belgium, Roland Berger's selection process and German internship pages, and Bain London. McKinsey Germany's interview and selection page says the one-on-one interviews take place in German; it does not separate case from fit interviews, so confirm the language of each with the recruiter, and note that the page names no language for the Solve game.

Germany and Austria

Prepare for a German case and an English case at BCG, and German one-on-one interviews at McKinsey; at other DACH firms, English applications are accepted but the interview language is not always published. BCG's German and Austrian process page runs two rounds on two days, and the second has two case interviews, "einmal auf Deutsch und einmal auf Englisch". Its Visiting Associate page and entry page accept documents in either language.

Simon-Kucher's student FAQ also accepts German or English documents and describes an online analytics test after screening, but gives no interview language. Bain's Power of 4 gap-year programme is written for "German-speaking" students, with applications due Sunday 6 December 2026. Roland Berger's internship page lists a 15 January 2027 deadline and no language rule.

For the full German process, firm by firm, see consulting recruiting in Germany, and for who hires where, consulting firms in Germany. The firm guides for Roland Berger, Simon-Kucher and Horváth cover their case formats.

Switzerland

Switzerland is the one office that publishes an English-only path: say you are not fluent in German or French and every interview is held in English. BCG Switzerland says interviews are "generally conducted in German or French, with at least one interview in English". English fluency is required; German or French is "a plus but not a requirement". The full-time process is a 30-minute cognitive test, one virtual 45-minute case and then three in-person cases in Zurich. Pay in the Swiss offices is covered in consulting salary in Switzerland.

France

Bain Paris requires French and English at C1; BCG France publishes the process but not the language. The Bainworks FAQ lists "Fluency in French & English (level C1 for both)" for France. BCG's ESSEC campus page describes three rounds over four to six weeks, a logic test in round one and a written case study in round two for end-of-studies interns and permanent hires, with no language rule. The French process and calendar are in consulting recruiting in France.

Italy

BCG Italy is the strictest rule we found: C1 Italian is mandatory, and English is also expected at C1. The internship page says "un livello C1 di Italiano è per noi requisito obbligatorio", runs an online business case after screening, then an HR interview and a business case "in italiano e/o in inglese". It also recommends sending the CV in English. The last window printed was 13 to 20 January 2026, with feedback by the first half of February; the 2027 window was not posted when we checked. BCG's Italy country page states no level, so C1 on the internship page is the current published rule.

Spain, Benelux and Poland

Bain names the local language for Madrid (Spanish), Amsterdam (Dutch) and Warsaw (English plus a Central or Eastern European language). BCG's Spain page says internship and Associate applications are open year-round, without a language line; its Madrid Visiting Associate posting is now closed, so any Spanish level it set is not confirmed here. In Belgium, Kearney asks for an "English CV and cover letter" on its Belgium careers page and says nothing about interview language. Dutch-market firms and their rules are in consulting firms in the Netherlands.

Nordics

BCG's Nordic page states "Our working language is English" and sets no Nordic-language requirement for Associates. That line sits under the Associate role, and the page does not state the interview language, so read the posting you apply to for any role-specific language line.

London

London interviews run in English. BCG's UK graduate page asks for excellent English and describes case-based discussions with senior members of the London team after a short numerical assessment. Bain London runs two rounds of case interviews in the office or on Zoom. The London timeline is in MBB London recruiting and the UK consulting recruiting guide.

Firms that hire across Europe

Oliver Wyman's European student event asked for English plus the local language of at least one of eight office countries. The OWn Your Future page requires fluency "in English and in the local language of at least one of the following Oliver Wyman office countries": France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. The 2026 edition ran in Milan from 17 to 19 April, with applications closed on 8 February 2026. The Oliver Wyman case interview guide covers the interview itself.

What language is the online test in?

None of the official test pages we read states a language, so the invitation email is your source of truth. What the pages do state:

• BCG Germany, Austria and Switzerland: a 30-minute cognitive test with numerical, verbal and logical questions, all multiple choice and taken without tools or resources (BCG Switzerland). No language is given. BCG's tests also differ by country; the BCG online assessment by country page maps them.
• Bain: Sova or TestGorilla, chosen in the recruiter's email, about 30 to 40 minutes, calculators allowed for the assessment only, and AI tools strictly prohibited. No language is given. See the Bain Sova test guide and the Bain TestGorilla guide.
• BCG Italy: an online business case after CV screening, with preparation material sent first. No language is given.
• McKinsey Solve: McKinsey's Solve FAQ (September 2026, read 6 November 2026) says Solve can be taken in English, Spanish, Portuguese or Japanese, so candidates for German, French or Italian offices take it in one of those. The format is in the McKinsey Solve guide.

The practical point: the verbal sections of a cognitive test reward reading speed, so if the invitation lets you pick a language, pick your fastest reading language, not the office language.

The online tests McKinsey, BCG and Bain give before the case interview

AllMcKinseyBCGBain

Sustainable Futures Lab (Island)Start free runSustainable Futures Lab (Classic)Start free runSea WolfStart free runRed RockStart free run

Casey simulatorStart free runCCA numerical prepStart free runSOVAStart free runTestGorilla-style practiceStart free run

Can you ask for the case interview in English?

Yes, at BCG Switzerland by stated policy; elsewhere you can ask, but no other official page we read promises it. BCG Germany and Austria fix one German and one English case in the final round, so asking to drop the German case runs against the published format. Bain Paris and BCG Italy set C1 in the local language as a requirement, so an English-only request there signals you do not meet it.

When the page is silent, ask the recruiter once, after your invitation and before you prepare. A short version that works in any office:

"Thank you for the invitation. Could you tell me which language each interview round and the online test will be held in? I am fluent in English and [language, CEFR level]."

Ask about every stage separately (test, first round, final round, any written case). The answer decides how many of your mock cases need to be in each language.

Which language should your CV and cover letter be in?

Where firms state it, English is accepted everywhere we checked, and BCG Italy actively recommends it. BCG Germany and Austria, Bain's Power of 4 and Simon-Kucher accept German or English documents. BCG Italy says "ti consigliamo di scegliere l'inglese" for the CV. Kearney Belgium asks for an English CV and cover letter. One trade-off: if the office requires the local language, an English CV still needs to show that language with a level. The consulting CV guide for the UK, the Dutch consulting CV guide and the German Lebenslauf guide cover local formats.

How do you prepare a case in a second language?

Learn the case logic once in your strongest language, then rehearse complete cases out loud in every language your process uses. The thinking (structure, math, synthesis) carries across languages. What does not carry is speed: under pressure, people slow down, drop units and lose the thread of their own structure in a weaker language.

1. Find out the language of every round first. Use the table above and the recruiter email. A BCG Germany candidate needs both languages; a BCG Nordics candidate may need only English.
2. Build the structure in your strongest language. Learn how to structure a case and practise case math where you think fastest.
3. Learn the case vocabulary in each interview language. The terms below come up in almost every profitability or market case; say them aloud until they are automatic.
4. Run whole mock cases in each language. Full cases, not phrase lists: the clarifying questions, the structure, the math out loud and the synthesis. Switch language mid-session if your final round alternates.
5. Fix the observable problems. Short sentences, numbers with units, a signpost before each branch. The communication guide covers templates and fast interviewers in depth.

Practising when your round is not in English

Road to Offer practice is in English only, so it covers the English rounds and the logic of every round, not the German, French or Italian delivery. The cases, drills and AI interviewer run in English, and spoken answers are transcribed as English. Use it for the parts that transfer: structuring, market sizing, case math and synthesis, plus the English case that BCG Germany, Austria and Switzerland all include. For a round in another language, add mock cases with a native-speaking friend, alumnus or classmate, and use the vocabulary table above as your checklist.

Practise the English case round out loud

FoodserviceEasy

Start the case

If your process includes a fit round, prepare those stories in each language too; the McKinsey PEI guide shows how to structure them. For when each office opens applications, see the Europe consulting recruiting timeline and UK application deadlines for 2027.

Sources (checked 6 November 2026)

• BCG Germany and Austria: application process, Visiting Associate, entry page
• BCG Switzerland: application and interviews
• BCG Italy: internship programme
• BCG France: ESSEC campus page; BCG Spain: country page; BCG Nordics: country page; BCG UK: associate jobs
• Bain: Bainworks, Power of 4, digital assessment, London recruiting
• Oliver Wyman: OWn Your Future
• Simon-Kucher: student FAQ; Roland Berger: internship page, selection process
• Kearney Belgium: careers
• Council of Europe: CEFR level descriptions
• McKinsey Germany, interview and selection process (read 7 November 2026), and the McKinsey Solve FAQ (September 2026 PDF), read 6 November 2026 in a browser