DELE exam day: what to bring, the rules and what happens
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The written tests start at 9:00 in the morning, local time, at every exam centre in the world. The speaking test can be on the same day or on another day that your centre sets.
Before the day
Your exam centre sends you the official exam notice (convocatoria) by email, with the place, days and times of the written tests and the speaking test. If it has not arrived ten days before the written exam, contact the centre. The Instituto Cervantes makes it your responsibility to know the exact date, time and place of every test.
If you need extra time or another special measure, you apply through the exam centre in advance. DELE special needs gives the deadlines.
What to bring
Bring these originals:
- The registration receipt (resguardo de inscripción) from the exam centre or from the online registration email.
- The photo identity document you registered with, or your passport. Citizens of the European Union can also bring the national identity card of their country, even if they registered with another document.
- The exam notice from your centre.
The 2026 terms add that a candidate who cannot show original documents must justify it.
DELE A2 in Spain
Candidates sitting DELE A2 or the A2-NA in Spain bring two original identity documents, the TIE (residence card) and the passport. EU citizens also bring two, and they can replace either one with their national identity card or the EU registration certificate. Expired documents are accepted.
Only one of the TIE and the passport is accepted after theft or loss, with a police report no more than 4 months old, and during a renewal, with the appointment proof no more than 4 months old. It is also accepted when a court or a visa application holds the other document, with proof. Stateless, refugee, undocumented and A2-NA candidates have their own lists in DELE A2 and CCSE for Spanish citizenship.
At the centre
Go to the address in your exam notice at the time it gives, in the centre’s local time. Before the tests start, staff check your documents and take your photograph. Only candidates whose details match their registration receipt are let in.
Hats, caps, veils and burkas must come off for the check and the photograph, and you cannot wear them in the exam room. A headscarf is allowed if your face and ears stay visible, so that staff can see you carry no device.
Leave bags and electronic devices outside the exam room if you can. Otherwise the centre asks you to put them in a set place out of your reach during the tests, and it is not responsible if they are lost. The centre can ask you to leave phones, smartwatches, laptops and other digital devices at the entrance.
The order of the tests
On the exam date, the centre gives the written tests from 9:00: reading, listening and writing. At C2, reading and listening are one test. The official exam guides number the tests in that order, with speaking last. Reading and listening questions come in one booklet. The level pages give the length of each test: A1, A2, B1, B2, C1 and C2.
The speaking test can be on the exam date, on days before or after it, or at another time the centre sets, so check your exam notice for its date. You take it in person at the centre, and it cannot be taken online. SIELE, a separate exam, can be taken remotely, and DELE vs SIELE compares the two.
In the exam room
Follow the instructions of the exam staff exactly. The 2026 terms name two kinds of misconduct in particular: having or using a mobile phone or another electronic device in the exam room, and cheating, such as copying, talking to other candidates or sitting the exam for someone else. A candidate who is excluded or expelled for misconduct gets no grade, and so does one whose misconduct comes to light later, during marking.
Reading and listening answers go on a separate answer sheet, where you mark one answer for each question. The top of each sheet shows a correctly and an incorrectly marked box. The Instituto Cervantes published model answer sheets for A1, A2, B1, B2, C1 and C2 (PDF).
Each recording in the listening test is played twice, at every level from A1 to C2. The A1 to C1 guides add that there are pauses before and after each recording to read the questions and write the answers, and that the recorded instructions are the same as those in the booklet. At C1 and C2, the recording for the first writing task is also played twice.
The speaking test may be recorded on audio for quality control. The 2026 terms also allow the Instituto Cervantes to capture images, video and voice of candidates, systematically or at random, for quality control, fraud control and complaints.
If something goes wrong
If you are late
The timetable of the written tests is binding. Only in special circumstances can the centre let you sit them at another time. If you cannot attend the speaking test at the time set, the centre decides whether to give you another appointment. A candidate who does not attend is graded No presentado.
If you are ill or cannot attend
There is no refund for a missed exam, and the fee cannot be used for another sitting. In serious cases with documents to prove them, the Instituto Cervantes may let you move to another sitting at the same centre. The 2026 terms ask for the proof antes de los 15 días naturales desde la fecha de celebración de las pruebas escritas de la convocatoria
, which reads word for word as “before 15 calendar days from the date the written tests of the sitting are held”.
If the centre is at fault or the exam is cancelled
If you cannot sit the exam because of the exam centre, or the exam is cancelled by force majeure or a natural disaster, you can choose a full refund or a place at a later sitting that still has registration open and free places. Ask in writing within one month of the written exam date, at your exam centre or, if you registered online with the Instituto Cervantes, through its user support service.
If something goes wrong during the tests
Ask your exam centre for a complaint form (hoja de reclamaciones) and fill it in with the details on the same day. The centre deals with these complaints directly. Other complaints about the exam and how it is run go to the Instituto Cervantes user support service or its sede electrónica (official online office).
Results arrive about two months after the written tests, or about three months for the May and November sittings. DELE results explains where to find them and how to ask for a review.