The exam at a glance
Which result you need
| Goal | Usually required |
|---|---|
| Spanish nationality | DELE A2 or higher plus the CCSE test; nationals of Spanish-speaking countries usually need only the CCSE |
| A Spanish university or a job in Spain | Often B2; some programmes and employers accept B1 or ask for C1 |
| Teaching or healthcare jobs | Often B2–C1, depending on the country, region and employer |
| Exchanges, internships, scholarships, summer schools | Usually B1–B2; check the rules of your programme |
| A personal goal or your CV | Any level; pick the one you can pass with a margin, because the result is only APTO or NO APTO |
The exam part by part
B1: 5 tasks, 30 questions. You match short ads and messages to what people are looking for, answer questions on an informative text, link statements to three short texts, put removed fragments back into a text and choose the right word or form for the gaps in a letter. B2: 4 tasks, 36 questions: a complex informative text with multiple choice, four personal texts to match with 10 statements, a text with missing fragments and a long text with 14 gaps testing grammar and vocabulary.
Tips- Read the questions before the text, so you scan for specific information instead of translating everything.
- Matching tasks have extra options, and an option that repeats the exact words of the text is often a trap: the right answer usually says the same thing in other words.
- Keep the pace: about 14 minutes per task at B1 and 17 at B2. Never leave a blank, because a wrong answer costs you nothing.
At both levels: 5 tasks, 30 questions. You hear short messages or conversations, a long monologue (B1) or an interview (B2), a news bulletin (B1) or a lecture (B2), six short monologues or conversations to match with statements, and a conversation where you decide who said what: the man, the woman or neither. Each recording is usually played twice.
Tips- Use the pause before each recording to read the questions and underline key words, so you know what to listen for.
- Mark a provisional answer on the first listening and confirm it on the second. Don’t get stuck on one unknown word: the context usually carries the meaning.
- Listen to Spanish every day, including Latin American accents: the exam can use different varieties of Spanish.
Two tasks at both levels. B1: a letter, email or forum post responding to a short text (100–120 words) and a text on one of two topics, such as a diary entry, a story or a short biography with your opinion (130–150 words). B2: a letter or email based on a recording you listen to (150–180 words) and, by choice, an article commenting on a chart or a blog post or review (150–180 words).
Tips- Cover every point in the instructions (pautas): a missing point lowers your mark even if your Spanish is good.
- Learn set phrases for letters and connectors for arguments: Estimado/a…, Le escribo para…, Quedo a la espera de su respuesta; además, sin embargo, por lo tanto, en cambio.
- Stay within the word range and keep 5 minutes to check accents, gender and number agreement and verb endings. At B2, note numbers, names and main arguments while the recording plays.
B1, 4 tasks: a 2–3 minute presentation on one of two topics, a conversation with the examiner about it, describing a photo and an everyday role play based on it, such as a complaint, a return or making an appointment. B2, 3 tasks: weigh up several proposals to solve a problem and discuss them, describe the situation in a photo and talk about it, and comment on survey results or a news item. There are two examiners: one talks with you, the other only grades.
Tips- In the preparation time write an outline of key words, not a script: you can keep your notes in front of you, but you may not simply read them out.
- Prepare frames for each task: En la foto se ve…, Me imagino que… for the photo; La propuesta que más me convence es… porque…, El inconveniente es que… for the B2 proposals.
- Make it a real conversation: react to what the examiner says, agree and disagree politely, and if you miss a question, ask ¿Podría repetir, por favor?
How it is scored
Each of the four parts is worth 25 points, and together they form two groups of 50: reading with writing, and listening with speaking. For APTO you need at least 30 points in each group, and a strong group cannot carry a weak one: 45 in reading and writing with 28 in listening and speaking is still NO APTO.
How many words you need
For DELE B1 you need about 2,750–3,250 Spanish words that you recognise when reading, and for B2 about 3,250–3,750. These figures come from research on learners of English and French (Milton and Alexiou, 2009) and work as a guide for Spanish too. Below: how the DELE is built, how it is scored and how to prepare your vocabulary.
Check where you are now: the free Spanish vocabulary test takes 3 minutes and estimates how many of the 5,000 most frequent Spanish words you know.
Take the Spanish vocabulary test →Vocabulary by exam topic
- el alquiler rent
- el piso flat, apartment (in Spain); also floor
- la habitación room, bedroom
- el barrio neighbourhood
- la mudanza house move
- la factura bill, invoice
- la calefacción heating
- las tareas domésticas household chores
- el puesto de trabajo job, position
- la entrevista de trabajo job interview
- el sueldo salary, wages
- la jornada laboral working day, working hours
- las prácticas internship, work placement
- la oficina office
- la beca scholarship, grant
- aprobar / suspender to pass / to fail an exam (suspender is not “suspend” here)
- el billete de ida y vuelta return ticket
- la reserva booking, reservation
- el alojamiento accommodation
- el equipaje luggage
- la tarjeta de embarque boarding pass
- el retraso delay
- el andén platform
- perder el tren to miss the train
- la cita con el médico doctor’s appointment
- el centro de salud health centre, local clinic
- la receta prescription; also recipe
- el síntoma symptom (masculine, like el problema)
- estar constipado to have a cold (not “constipated”)
- las urgencias emergency department
- el seguro médico health insurance
- la dieta equilibrada balanced diet
- la contaminación pollution
- el reciclaje recycling
- los residuos waste
- el envase container, packaging
- el cambio climático climate change
- las energías renovables renewable energy
- la sequía drought
- ahorrar energía to save energy
- la noticia news item, piece of news
- el titular headline
- las redes sociales social media
- el anuncio advert, announcement
- la exposición exhibition
- el estreno premiere, release
- la entrada ticket for a show (for transport: el billete); also entrance
- la reseña review
Paste a topic name from the list above into the generation chat in the app and get a word set made for your exam, with examples in context, audio and smart reviews. You can get words for any other topic the same way.
Grammar for the exam: what you need
You need both to describe the photo in the speaking test (task 3 at B1, task 2 at B2) and in every letter: ser for identity, characteristics and where an event takes place, estar for location, states and results (la tienda está cerrada). Learn the adjectives that change meaning with the verb: ser listo (clever) and estar listo (ready), ser rico (rich) and estar rico (tasty). Example: “La fiesta es en casa de Ana, pero Ana todavía está en el trabajo”.
They carry the second writing task at B1 (a diary entry, a story or a short biography) and every story about your own experience in the speaking test: the preterite moves the story on, the imperfect sets the scene and describes habits, and the pluperfect (había salido) shows what had happened before. English “was doing” and “used to” usually point to the imperfect, while a finished period takes the preterite, even a long one: viví allí cinco años. Example: “Cuando llegué a la estación, llovía y el tren ya había salido”.
You need it to give advice in a letter or forum post (te recomiendo que…), to weigh up the proposals in the first speaking task at B2 (es necesario que…) and to pick the right form in the gap-fill reading tasks (task 5 at B1, task 4 at B2). It follows wishes, advice, feelings and doubt when the subject changes, as well as para que and cuando about the future, so learn irregular forms like sea, vaya, haya, tenga and haga by heart. Example: “Te recomiendo que vengas en mayo, para que veas la ciudad sin turistas”.
At B2 this is the language of hypotheses and polite requests: in the first speaking task (Si yo fuera el alcalde…) and in a formal letter (Le agradecería que me respondiera…), while at B1 the conditional is usually enough for the role play (¿Podría…?, Me gustaría…). English “would” belongs only in the main clause: the si clause takes the imperfect subjunctive (si tuviera, never si tendría), which you form from the preterite: tuvieron → tuviera. Example: “Si tuviera más tiempo, haría un curso de cocina”.
Both turn up in the gap-fill tasks and in every letter: para for purpose, recipient, destination and deadlines, por for cause, exchange, means, movement through a place and parts of the day. Know the set phrases cold: gracias por, por eso, por ejemplo, por fin, para mí (in my opinion). Example: “Gracias por tu correo; te escribo para contarte mis planes”.
They come up in the gap-fill tasks, in letters and in conversation: lo and la stand for the direct object, le for the person you give or say something to, and le turns into se before lo or la (se lo dije, never le lo dije). They go before a conjugated verb and attach to an infinitive, a gerund or a positive command: te lo explico, quiero explicártelo, explícamelo. Example: “Si necesitas el libro, te lo dejo mañana”.
The app has a big grammar section for every level from A1 to C2, with short lessons and exercises. Paste a topic name from the list above into the generation chat and get exercises on exactly that topic. Any other topic works the same way.
8-week preparation plan
Do an official sample exam (modelo de examen) from the Instituto Cervantes website under timed conditions and score both groups. Choose your level, set aside 45–60 minutes a day and start learning 15–20 new words a day with spaced repetition, for example with DELE topic sets in NewLexi.
Topics: everyday life and home, work and studies. Grammar: ser and estar and the past tenses (preterite, imperfect, present perfect). One timed reading task every day.
Listening week: 20–30 minutes a day of news, podcasts and dialogues, plus the matching and “who said what” tasks. Topics: travel and transport, health.
Writing: learn the formats (informal and formal letters, forum posts, opinion texts, and at B2 reviews and chart commentaries). Write 3 texts within the word range and time limit, then go through your mistakes. Grammar: the subjunctive after quiero que, es importante que and cuando.
Speaking: one presentation topic (B1) or one set of proposals (B2) a day; record yourself on your phone and describe photos with a fixed structure. Topics: environment, culture and media.
Second full mock exam under timed conditions. Compare it with week 1 and give this week to your weakest group. Review all topic words and list your typical mistakes.
Practise single tasks against the clock, especially the last reading task on grammar and vocabulary. Write 2 more texts and do 2 full speaking run-throughs with a teacher or a language partner.
Final mock exam a week before the date, then review only: hardly any new words, just your mistakes and set phrases. Check your centre’s notice (convocatoria), your ID and the route, and rest the day before.
Common mistakes
The groups do not compensate each other: listening and speaking need their own 30 out of 50. Listen to Spanish every day from week 1.
Ser is for identity and lasting traits: es médico, es aburrido (he is boring). Estar is for states and location: está cansado, está aburrido (he is bored), está en Madrid. Learn adjectives together with the right verb.
Wishes, advice, feelings and doubt need it: quiero que vengas, es importante que practiques, no creo que sea fácil. So does cuando about the future: cuando llegue, te llamo (not cuando llegaré).
A completed action in a finished time takes the preterite: ayer fui al médico, el verano pasado trabajé en un hotel. The imperfect sets the scene and describes habits: cuando era pequeño, vivía en el campo.
Actualmente means currently, embarazada means pregnant, constipado means having a cold, éxito means success, asistir a means to attend and realizar means to carry out. Keep a list and review it like the rest of your vocabulary.
On exam day
- Check your exam centre’s notice (convocatoria) well in advance: time, address and the day of your speaking test, which may be on a different day or at a different time from the written papers.
- Bring the original ID you registered with and your registration confirmation, and arrive early: latecomers may not be let in.
- Mark your reading and listening answers on the answer sheet (hoja de respuestas) as you go and leave no blanks: a wrong answer costs you nothing.
- Keep 5 minutes at the end of the writing paper to check accents, gender and number, verb endings and whether you covered every point of the task.
- In the speaking test, talk to the examiner, not to your notes. If you need a second to think, say Pues…, A ver… or Es una buena pregunta instead of going silent.
How NewLexi helps you prepare for DELE
Generate sets of Spanish words on DELE topics at your level or add words from your textbook by photo. Every word gets spaced repetition and comes back in stories and dialogues at your level, which you can read and listen to, so your listening grows together with your vocabulary. Practise writing with instant AI feedback and grammar from A1 to C2 in the same daily plan.
