Understand and use very common everyday expressions and simple phrases to meet immediate needs.
Reading and writing make up group 1; listening and speaking make up group 2.
Comprensión de lectura
Read a short email or postcard of 150 to 175 words and answer five questions with three options each.
Match six sentences to nine very short texts such as notes, signs and notices.
Match six people's needs to nine short adverts.
Read an informative text of 175 to 210 words and answer eight questions with three options each.
Comprensión auditiva
Listen to five short dialogues and choose the matching picture out of three for each.
Match five short messages to five of eight pictures.
Listen to one person speaking and match eight statements to eight of eleven endings.
Listen to a conversation and complete seven sentences, filling each gap from eight options.
Expresión e interacción escritas
Fill in a form with short answers about yourself.
Write a postcard, email, message or advert of 30 to 40 words that covers the points you are given.
Expresión e interacción orales
Give a short personal presentation from the prompt card, for 1 to 2 minutes.
Talk about a topic for 2 to 3 minutes, choosing three of five suggested points.
Talk with the examiner about your topic for 3 to 4 minutes and ask two questions of your own.
Each test is marked out of 25. You need at least 30 of the 50 points in each group, in the same sitting, and a strong group cannot make up for a weak one. The result is APTO or NO APTO, and the diploma never expires.
| Reading | 18 of 25 |
|---|---|
| Listening | 16 of 25 |
| Writing | 13 of 25 |
| Speaking | 15 of 25 |
APTO
| Reading | 22 of 25 |
|---|---|
| Listening | 25 of 25 |
| Writing | 7 of 25 |
| Speaking | 20 of 25 |
NO APTO
Registration is done with the Instituto Cervantes, where you choose an exam centre and see its fee.
| Exam day | Levels | Registration |
|---|---|---|
| Closed on 30 September 2026 | |
| Opens 18 November 2026, closes 10 February 2027 | |
| Opens 18 November 2026, closes 7 April 2027 | |
| Opens 18 November 2026, closes 29 September 2027 |
A1 is the first DELE level. Candidates are usually beginners who want an official result for a first year of Spanish, often for a school, a job application or their own motivation. A1 does not meet the language requirement for Spanish nationality, which asks for A2 or higher.
Reading. The texts are short: messages, signs, adverts and a simple information text. Practise finding one detail fast, such as an opening time, a price or a place. In the matching tasks, read the six sentences first and only then scan the nine texts.
Listening. Learn numbers, times, days and prices until you can catch them without translating.
Writing. Task 1 is a form about you: name, nationality, address, studies, likes. Task 2 is a message of 30 to 40 words. Write a sentence for every point in the instructions, because a missing point costs more than a small grammar mistake.
Speaking. You get 10 minutes to prepare. Have a personal presentation ready (name, age, where you are from, family, work or studies, free time) and practise asking questions with ¿Dónde…?, ¿Cuándo…? and ¿Qué…?, since task 3 asks you to ask the examiner two.