Home / WSET Level 2 Award in Wines
WSET Level 2 Award in Wines
The second of WSET's four wine qualifications. Take it over two days in person, five weeks online with an instructor, fully self-paced on demand, or as a four-day bootcamp in Napa Valley. Exam registration and the exam fee are included in every format.
WSET Level 2 Award in Wine | In-Person
WSET Level 2 Wine Online | Instructor-Led Course
WSET Level 2 Wine Online | On-Demand Course
WSET Level 2 Award in Wines | Bootcamp
The WSET Level 2 Award in Wines is the second of WSET's four wine qualifications. WSET sets its Total Qualification Time at 28 hours — 17 guided learning hours plus 11 hours of private study — and it is assessed by 50 multiple-choice questions in 60 minutes with a 55% pass mark. Napa Valley Wine Academy teaches it four ways: two days in person, five weeks instructor-led online, fully self-paced on demand, or as a four-day bootcamp in Napa Valley.
Compare the four WSET Level 2 formats
| In Person | Instructor-Led Online | On-Demand Online | Napa Bootcamp | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuition | $950 | $699 | $599 | $2,215 |
| Format | In person | Online | Online | In person |
| Schedule | Two consecutive days, 9am–5pm | Five weeks on fixed cohort dates | Start any time — no cohort, no start date | Four consecutive days |
| Live teaching | Two full days with an instructor in the room | Four live 90-minute webinars | None — self-directed throughout | Four days with our faculty, including winery and cooperage visits |
| Where | Napa CA, Nashville TN or Tampa FL | Online | Online | Napa Valley, California |
| Wines tasted | Around 30 across the two days | 12 classic wines — source your own, or buy a tasting kit from our partner Small Lot Bottles | 12 classic wines — source your own, or buy a tasting kit from our partner Small Lot Bottles | More than 60 across the four days |
| Best if you want | Structured classroom teaching and a guided tasting flight | Live instruction and a set timetable without travelling | To fit 28 hours of study around an unpredictable schedule | An immersive week in wine country alongside the qualification |
The course listings at the top of this page always carry the live price, and group discounts apply automatically when several of you book together.
Which format is actually worth the money
All four formats lead to the same qualification. The WSET Level 2 Award in Wines is a single global qualification, set and graded to one standard worldwide, and your certificate does not record which format you studied. The exam is identical too — 50 multiple-choice questions, sat online with remote invigilation, whichever way you learned. So the honest way to choose is to ask what each step up in price actually buys.
On-Demand Online, $599 — the baseline
Everything WSET requires and nothing more: the official study guide, our pre-study course, exam registration and the exam fee. No cohort, no start date, no live teaching, and you source the 12 tasting wines yourself. If you study well alone and your schedule will not hold still, this is the rational purchase and the other three formats are optional.
Instructor-Led Online, $699 — plus live teaching
The extra $100 buys four live 90-minute webinars on a fixed five-week timetable, and an instructor you can ask in real time. Worth it if you already know you will not finish a self-paced course on your own. It does not add wines — you still source the same 12 yourself.
In Person, $950 — plus a guided tasting flight
The extra $351 over on-demand buys two full days with an instructor in the room, in Napa, Nashville or Tampa, and around 30 wines poured for you rather than bought by you. If you would otherwise buy the $130 tasting kit for an online format, the like-for-like teaching premium is nearer $221. Worth it if you learn by discussion and want your palate calibrated by someone tasting alongside you.
Napa Bootcamp, $2,215 — plus the valley
The extra $1,265 over the in-person course buys two additional days, more than 60 wines instead of around 30, vineyard and winery visits across multiple Napa Valley AVAs, a cooperage visit, luxury coach transport, two gourmet lunches, a winemaker dinner, and teaching from a working Napa winemaker. Be clear about what it does not buy: a better certificate. If the credential is what you need, the two-day in-person course at $950 is the rational purchase, and we would rather you bought that one. The bootcamp is for people who want the qualification and the week.
The short version. Buy the cheapest format that fits how you actually study, and pay more only for something you can name — live teaching, wines poured for you, or four days in wine country.
What you'll learn
- How wine is made, and the factors that shape a wine's style and quality
- The key white and black grape varieties and their characteristics
- The important wine-producing regions of the world and their signature styles
- How sparkling, sweet and fortified wines are produced
- Label terminology, and what it tells you before you open the bottle
- The principles of pairing food and wine
- How to describe a wine using the WSET Level 2 Systematic Approach to Tasting® (SAT)
Entry requirements
- No formal prerequisite. Level 2 assumes some basic wine knowledge, and many students arrive from the WSET Level 1 Award in Wines, but Level 1 is not required.
- Students must be at least 21 years of age to taste alcohol on any US course.
What's included
- The official WSET Level 2 study guide, with one year of digital textbook access
- Our online pre-study course, available as soon as you enroll
- Exam registration and the exam fee
- Access to our student discussion community
- Your WSET certificate and lapel pin on passing
Tasting samples are not included in the online formats and are purchased separately.
The exam and how it is graded
The Level 2 exam is 50 multiple-choice questions in 60 minutes. There is no tasting paper and no written paper at this level. The pass mark is 55% — 28 correct answers out of 50 — with Merit awarded at 70–84% and Distinction at 85% or above.
For courses from 1 August 2026 onwards the exam is taken online by remote invigilation and is not sat during class. In-person sittings remain available by prior request, with additional fees. You must register to sit within 12 months of your course.
Why study WSET Level 2 with Napa Valley Wine Academy
- 95.1% pass rate. In the 2024–25 academic year, 95.1% of our 1,106 Level 2 candidates passed at the first attempt. See our published WSET pass rates, including the method behind every figure.
- Winner of the Riedel Trophy for the WSET Educator of the Year in 2016 and 2019.
- A pre-study course included in every format, which gives every student the same grounding before the course begins.
- Four ways to study, including the only four-day Napa Valley bootcamp of its kind.
WSET Level 2 in spirits, beer and sake
WSET runs a separate Level 2 qualification for each drinks category, and we teach all of them online. Explore the WSET Level 2 Award in Spirits, the WSET Level 2 Award in Beer or the WSET Level 2 Award in Sake.
Frequently asked questions
How much does WSET Level 2 cost at Napa Valley Wine Academy?
Four formats, four prices: On-Demand Online $599, Instructor-Led Online $699, In Person $950, and the four-day Napa Bootcamp $2,215. Exam registration and the exam fee are included in every one of them. The two online formats do not include the 12 required tasting wines; an optional kit is $130 from our partner Small Lot Bottles. The course listings on this page always carry the live price.
Is the Napa Bootcamp worth $2,215 when the two-day course is $950?
Only if you want the week as well as the qualification. Both lead to the identical WSET Level 2 Award in Wines and the identical online exam, and your certificate does not record which format you took. The extra $1,265 buys two additional days, more than 60 wines instead of around 30, vineyard and winery visits across multiple Napa Valley AVAs, a cooperage visit, coach transport, two gourmet lunches and a winemaker dinner. If the credential is all you need, the two-day in-person course at $950 is the better purchase.
Do I need to complete Level 1 first?
No. There is no formal prerequisite for WSET Level 2. It does assume some basic wine knowledge, so if you are starting from scratch the WSET Level 1 Award in Wines is a comfortable entry point — but plenty of students begin at Level 2.
How much time does WSET Level 2 take?
WSET sets the Total Qualification Time at 28 hours: 17 guided learning hours and 11 hours of private study. How that is spread depends on your format — two days in class, five weeks of webinars, or entirely at your own pace.
Is there a tasting exam?
No. Tasting is taught and practised throughout the course using the Level 2 SAT, but the exam itself is theory only. A tasting paper is introduced at WSET Level 3.
Where do I sit the exam?
For courses from 1 August 2026 onwards, online by remote invigilation — so you can sit it from home even if you studied in person. In-person sittings are available by prior request with additional fees.
Are the wines included?
On the in-person course and the bootcamp, all wines are poured for you. On both online courses the 12 required wines are not included in the fee. You can source them yourself from the list we provide, or buy the WSET Level 2 Award in Wine Tasting Kit ($130) from Small Lot Bottles, our tasting-sample partner. Kits are ordered, fulfilled and shipped by Small Lot Bottles, not by Napa Valley Wine Academy.
Which format should I choose?
Choose in person for structured classroom teaching and a guided tasting flight. Choose instructor-led online for live webinars on a set timetable. Choose on-demand if your schedule will not hold still. Choose the bootcamp if you want the qualification and an immersive four days in Napa Valley.
What comes after Level 2?
The WSET Level 3 Award in Wines, which adds a blind tasting paper and written short-answer questions. If you already know that is your destination, the Level 2 & Level 3 Wine Path bundle listed at the top of this page covers both.