Writing is marked by trained raters against official scales. In DELE every category runs from 0 to 3 and band 2 is the pass level; in SIELE four criteria run from 0 to 5. The categories and their weights change with the level.
Your texts are marked against official scales in which every category runs from 0 to 3:
| Band | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 3 | Clearly above the level of the exam |
| 2 | At the level of the exam: the pass level |
| 1 | Below the level of the exam |
| 0 | Blank, off-topic or illegible (writing); far below the level (speaking) |
The weighted result, at most 3, is converted to the 25 points of the prueba (33.33 or 33.34 at C2):
A result of exactly 2, the pass band, gives 16.67 of 25 points. At C2 the same result gives 22.22 of 33.33.
How the categories and tareas are weighted depends on the level:
| Exam | Raters | What is scored | Tarea weights |
|---|---|---|---|
| DELE A1 | Two raters, the mean is taken | One holistic score (0-3) per tarea, on a scale written for that tarea | T1 50%, T2 50% |
| DELE A2 | Two raters, the mean is taken | Uso de la lengua (66%) and Cumplimiento de la tarea (34%) | T1 50%, T2 50% |
| DELE B1 | Not stated in the guía | Holistic score (40%) + analytic score (60%): Adecuación al género discursivo, Coherencia, Corrección, Alcance | Equal in the analytic score |
| DELE B2 | Not stated in the guía | Holistic score (40%) + analytic score (60%): the same four categories as B1 | Equal in the analytic score |
| DELE C1 | Two raters, the mean is taken | Analytic only: Coherencia y cohesión 22%, Corrección 22%, Alcance 22%, Cumplimiento de la tarea 34% | T1 50%, T2 50% |
| DELE C2 | Two raters, the mean is taken | Analytic only: Cohesión y coherencia 22%, Corrección 22%, Alcance 22%, Cumplimiento de la tarea 34% | T1 42%, T2 25%, T3 33% |
Word counts matter. At A1, a Tarea 2 text of 30-40 words can reach the pass band, 20-29 words falls to band 1, and under 20 words the tarea is not assessed. At B2, a text under 100 words scores 0 for genre adequacy.
APTO needs at least 30 of the 50 points in each group: Grupo 1 is Reading + Writing, Grupo 2 is Listening + Speaking. Each prueba is worth 25 points, 100 in all. The only results are Apto and No apto.
| Group | Pruebas | Needed |
|---|---|---|
| Grupo 1 | Reading + Writing | 30 of 50 |
| Grupo 2 | Listening + Speaking | 30 of 50 |
Writing is in Grupo 1 with Reading. Points compensate inside a group but not across groups: 12 points in Writing and 18 in Reading make exactly 30, a pass for Grupo 1, however the other group goes. A strong Grupo 1 cannot rescue a weak other group.
DELE C2 has three pruebas worth 33.33, 33.33 and 33.34 points. APTO needs at least 20 points in each of the three; there are no groups and no compensation between pruebas.
All pruebas must be taken. There are only two possible results: Apto, which gives the diploma for the level of the exam, or No apto.
Accredited SIELE raters score both texts with analytic scales. Cohesión, Corrección and Alcance (cohesion, accuracy, range) use the same scale for both tareas; Cumplimiento de la tarea (task fulfilment) has its own scale for each. Every criterion is scored 0-5, and the weighted result gives a score out of 250.
The score places you at a CEFR level. SIELE is not pass or fail:
| CEFR level | SIELE Writing score (out of 250) |
|---|---|
| A1 | 34-68.99 |
| A2 | 69-103.99 |
| B1 | 104-166.99 |
| B2 | 167-214.99 |
| C1 | 215-250 |
| No level | Below 34 |
You can take writing as part of these modalities:
| Modality | Pruebas | Points | Time | You receive |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SIELE Global | Reading + Listening + Writing + Speaking | 0-1000 | About 3 h | Certificate |
| SIELE S2 | Reading + Writing | 0-500 | 60 + 50 min | Report (informe) |
| SIELE S5 | Writing + Speaking | 0-500 | 50 + 15 min | Report (informe) |
SIELE Global adds the four pruebas to a total out of 1000 and gives a certificate; the shorter modalities give a report (informe). Results arrive within three weeks and are valid for five years.
| DELE | SIELE | |
|---|---|---|
| Result | Apto / No apto, with your points per prueba | A score per prueba and a CEFR level |
| When | Usually about 2 months after the exam (about 3 for the May and November sessions) | Within 3 weeks |
| Document | A digital diploma (PDF with a verification code) | Certificate (Global) or report (S1-S5), valid 5 years |
The TestSucceed DELE and SIELE mock tests apply these rules to your answers: comprehension items are marked automatically and writing and speaking are scored by AI trained by our experts on the official criteria. Because the Cervantes does not publish everything examiners do, those scores are labelled as estimates. You can also practise one tarea at a time.
See what each tarea asks on the writing description page, try worked examples on the writing samples page, or read the writing FAQ.
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.