Short answers to the questions candidates ask most about the listening prueba of DELE (A1 to C2) and SIELE.
Twice, at every DELE level and in SIELE. In SIELE the audio starts by itself and plays twice automatically.
DELE A1 25 minutes, A2 40, B1 40, B2 40 and C1 50. At C2, listening is the last 45 minutes of the 105-minute Prueba 1. SIELE listening takes 55 minutes.
DELE A1 25, A2 25, B1 30, B2 30 and C1 30; C2 has 26 listening items inside Prueba 1. SIELE listening has 38 questions in 6 tareas.
Yes. Each recording gives you reading time before it starts, from about 20 or 30 seconds at B1 and B2 to one minute for the longer C1 and C2 tareas.
No. Each tarea ends when its audio ends; you can move on early with "Siguiente", but you cannot return to a finished tarea.
DELE A1 and A2 use peninsular Spanish. From B1 the recordings come from different varieties, and C1 and C2 use at least three. SIELE includes varieties from Spain and Latin America.
DELE C1 listening Tarea 4: ten brief everyday dialogues of 15-20 seconds, each with one question on what a colloquial or idiomatic expression means. At C2, Tarea 7 asks you to identify the attitude or feeling of eight speakers.
From A1 to C1, listening and speaking form Grupo 2, and you need at least 30 of their 50 points together. Listening is marked automatically, one point per correct answer with no penalty.
Every tarea is described on the listening description page, worked examples are on the listening samples page, and the full rules for points and passing are on the listening scoring page.
To practise, work through single tareas in the app or take a full timed mock test.
Written by Kirill O'Nayd
Language test expert and educator at TestSucceed, where he builds the DELE and SIELE practice tasks and mock tests and has spent years taking apart how each Instituto Cervantes prueba awards its points. See all TestSucceed preparation materials.