Failed DELE (Spanish)? Here's Your Recovery Plan

Pro tip: Every prueba must be taken again, including any prueba previously graded APTO, because there is no partial carry-over. Before paying for a retake, consider the review route instead if you were close: it costs 60 percent of the exam price, must be filed within one month, produces a third independent rating of the written and oral pruebas, and is refunded if the result changes to APTO. Instituto Cervantes warns that a review can also lower the result, and the legal resolution deadline is three months from the close of the request window.

• Assuming 60 points overall is a pass
  It is not. Instituto Cervantes states directly that a candidate with 60 or more points still fails if a grading group falls short. At A1 to C1 you need 30 of 50 in reading plus writing and 30 of 50 in listening plus speaking. At C2 you need 20 points in each of the three pruebas separately.
• Expecting a passed prueba to carry over to the next attempt
  It does not. Instituto Cervantes confirms that a candidate re-sitting DELE must take every prueba again, even one they scored APTO on previously, and must pay the full fee again. There is no second chance within a sitting and no partial credit across sittings.
• Registering with a different identity document from the one you will bring
  The document you name at registration is the document you must present. Instituto Cervantes requires the original registration receipt, the original official photo identity document used at registration or your passport, and the centre's official convocatoria. Candidates sitting A2 or A2-NA in Spain must present both the TIE and the passport as originals.
• Registering for A2 in Spain without a NIE
  Instituto Cervantes requires candidates sitting DELE A2 in Spain for the purpose of nationality by residence to register using their NIE. Registering under a passport number instead creates a mismatch between the diploma and the nationality file at the Ministry of Justice.
• Treating the exam as a Peninsular Spanish test
  Any variety of Spanish the candidate uses is valid in the production pruebas at every level, and the comprehension pruebas deliberately include the main varieties from B1 upward. Preparing only with Peninsular audio leaves the listening prueba exposed to Rioplatense, Caribbean and Andean recordings.
• Preparing reading as one 70-minute block
  Task weightings are lopsided. At B2 the four reading tasks carry 6, 10, 6 and 14 items, so task 4 alone is 39 percent of the reading score. At C1 the five tasks carry 6, 6, 6, 8 and 14 items. Rehearsing whole papers without per-task budgets means the heaviest task gets whatever minutes are left over.
• Skipping the supervised oral preparation period
  Every level gives dedicated preparation time before the oral prueba: 10 minutes at A1, 12 at A2, 15 at B1, 20 at B2 and C1, and 30 at C2. Candidates who walk in without notes lose structure, and the prueba may be recorded, which means an unstructured answer is exactly what a review board would hear.
• Requesting a review expecting only an upside
  Instituto Cervantes states that a review can lower your result. The review costs 60 percent of the pre-discount exam price, must be filed within one month, and involves a third independent rating of the production pruebas plus verification of the automatically scored ones. It is refunded only if NO APTO becomes APTO or the level rises in a double-exit schools exam.
• Booking a sitting that does not offer your level
  Level availability varies by sitting. In 2026 the 13 February sitting offers only A2 and A2-NA, the 17 April sitting offers A2 in Spain only, 16 October offers B1, B2 and C1 while 17 October offers A2, and only 23 May and 14 November carry the full general range.
• Assuming you can move a booking to next year
  Instituto Cervantes allows registration changes only within the same calendar year, and only while the registration window for both the original and the new sitting is open with places free. Outside Spain you cannot change exam centre at all. Refunds are limited to 14 calendar days from the registration date, and a no-show earns no refund and no transfer.

• B2 recommended for professional use
• Practice speaking with native speakers
• Oral exam: don't be afraid to elaborate
• Reading section: watch the clock per passage
• Use official Cervantes preparation materials
• Latin American vs Spain Spanish differences