Reading is the paper most A1 candidates walk into feeling calm about. No examiner, no audio, no clock ticking down from ten minutes. The text sits still, and you can read it as many times as you like.
That calm is also why it’s the paper where prepared candidates leave points behind. They read slowly because nothing forces them to hurry, then discover at minute forty that task 4 has eight items and a 200-word text still to go. Writing follows immediately afterward, and DELE A1 writing sample papers cover that 25-minute block.
So these sample papers are built around a word budget. How much Spanish arrives, in which task, and how long you can afford to spend on each. Specs follow the current A1 exam specification from Instituto Cervantes.
What is in DELE A1 comprensión de lectura?
The DELE A1 comprensión de lectura test lasts 45 minutes and contains 4 tasks with 25 items in total. Two tasks are multiple-choice with three options, and two are matching tasks where you connect short texts to statements. The total reading load is 595-925 words.
Text types are all things you’d genuinely read: a short personal account, public notices and signs, brief messages, and one longer informational text.
Nothing is literary. Nothing is abstract. If a text mentions an opinion, it will be me gusta or no me gusta, not an argument you have to evaluate.
These samples assume you already know the format. The DELE A1 reading guide walks through it before you start.
How much Spanish do you read in 45 minutes?
Here’s the word budget, task by task.
| Task | Items | Text length | Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tarea 1 | 5 | One text, 150 to 175 words | Multiple choice, 3 options |
| Tarea 2 | 6 | Nine short texts, 20 to 30 words each | Match texts to statements |
| Tarea 3 | 6 | Short texts of 20 to 30 words, statements of 10 to 25 words | Matching |
| Tarea 4 | 8 | One text, 175 to 210 words | Multiple choice, 3 options |
Two things jump out.
First, the two longest texts sit at the two ends of the paper. Tarea 1 and Tarea 4 together account for roughly 350 words and 13 of the 25 items. The middle two tasks are twelve-item tasks built from many very short fragments.
Second, Tarea 4 is the biggest single block: eight items, the longest text, and it comes last. If you’ve spent thirty minutes on the first three tasks, you’re in trouble.
Sample paper 1: Tarea 1, texto con opción múltiple
The text
Lea el texto y responda a las preguntas.
Me llamo Lucía Ferrer y tengo treinta y dos años. Soy española, de Sevilla, pero ahora vivo en Bogotá, en Colombia. Trabajo en un hospital. Soy enfermera y trabajo cuatro días a la semana, de martes a viernes.
Vivo en un apartamento pequeño con mi perro, Nube. El apartamento no es grande, pero tiene una terraza con muchas plantas. Me gusta mucho mi terraza porque por la tarde no hace calor.
Los lunes no trabajo. Por la mañana voy al gimnasio y por la tarde estudio inglés en una academia. Mi clase de inglés es difícil, pero el profesor es muy simpático.
No tengo coche. Voy al hospital en bicicleta porque el hospital está cerca de mi casa, a diez minutos. Los fines de semana voy al parque con Nube o como en un restaurante con mis amigos.
En agosto voy a Sevilla dos semanas para ver a mi familia. Mi madre y mi hermana viven allí.
The five items
1. ¿De dónde es Lucía? a) De Bogotá b) De Sevilla c) De Colombia
2. ¿Cuál es su trabajo? a) Es profesora b) Es enfermera c) Es estudiante
3. ¿Qué hace Lucía los lunes por la tarde? a) Va al gimnasio b) Estudia inglés c) Trabaja en el hospital
4. ¿Cómo va al trabajo? a) En bicicleta b) En coche c) En autobús
5. ¿Por qué va a Sevilla en agosto? a) Para trabajar b) Para estudiar c) Para ver a su familia
Answers: 1 b, 2 b, 3 b, 4 a, 5 c
Where the traps are
Look at item 1. Lucía is española, de Sevilla, but she lives in Bogotá, Colombia. All three options appear in the text. Only one answers the question asked: where she’s from.
Item 3 works the same way. She goes to the gym and studies English on Monday. The question specifies “por la tarde,” so option A is true but incorrect.
Item 4 hinges on no tengo coche, a negative statement three lines before the answer. Candidates who scan for the word coche and stop reading pick option B.
This is the pattern across the whole A1 reading paper. Distractors are drawn from the text, and the deciding detail is usually a time expression or a negative. No, nunca, pero, los lunes, por la tarde, ahora. Underline these words as you read, and most items answer themselves.
Sample paper 2: Tarea 2, letreros y correspondencias
The texts
Relacione los textos con las frases. Hay tres textos que no debe relacionar.
A. SUPERMERCADO LA PLAZA. Abierto de lunes a sábado, de 9:00 a 21:00. Domingos cerrado.
B. FARMACIA CENTRAL. Hoy cerrada por vacaciones. Farmacia de guardia: calle Mayor, 14.
C. BIBLIOTECA MUNICIPAL. Prohibido comer y beber en la sala de lectura. Gracias.
D. PISCINA MUNICIPAL. Los niños menores de ocho años deben entrar con un adulto.
E. AUTOBÚS 32. Por obras en la calle Sol, el autobús no para en la plaza esta semana.
F. RESTAURANTE EL OLIVO. Menú del día, 12 euros. Incluye primer plato, segundo plato y postre.
G. GIMNASIO FIT. Clase de yoga los martes y jueves a las 19:00. Es necesario reservar.
H. MUSEO DE ARTE. Entrada gratis para estudiantes con carné. Cerrado los lunes.
I. PARQUE DEL RÍO. Los perros deben llevar correa.
The six statements
- Aquí usted no puede comer.
- Este lugar no abre los domingos.
- Los estudiantes no pagan.
- Tiene que llamar antes de ir a la clase.
- El precio incluye tres platos.
- Hoy tiene que ir a otra calle.
Answers: 1 C, 2 A, 3 H, 4 G, 5 F, 6 B. Texts D, E, and I are not used.
How to work a matching task efficiently
Nine texts, six statements, three deliberate leftovers. The leftovers are the point. They exist so you can’t finish by elimination.
Read the six statements first, not the nine notices. The statements are shorter, and they tell you what to hunt for. Then go through the notices once, marking any that clearly answer a statement.
Watch the paraphrase. The exam almost never repeats its own words. Prohibido comer” becomes “no puede comer”. Es necesario reservar becomes tiene que llamar antes. Entrada gratis becomes no pagan. Primer plato, segundo plato y postre becomes tres platos.
That last one is the sharpest example. Nothing in text F says tres. You have to count. A1 matching tasks routinely ask you to do one small piece of reasoning like this, and candidates who look only for matching vocabulary miss it.
Commit to an answer and move on. Matching items are worth the same as everything else, and the six statements here are worth about seven minutes total.
Sample paper 3: Tarea 3, personas y anuncios
Six items. Short personal messages of 20 to 30 words, matched against statements of 10 to 25 words.
The texts
Relacione a cada persona con el anuncio que le corresponde.
A. Luis. Busco un piso pequeño y barato en el centro. Vivo solo y no tengo coche, así que no necesito garaje.
B. Carmen. Necesito clases de inglés por la tarde, después de las siete, porque trabajo hasta las seis y media.
C. Ana. Quiero un curso de cocina los fines de semana. De lunes a viernes no tengo tiempo libre.
D. Diego. Busco un gimnasio abierto muy temprano. Entro a trabajar a las nueve y quiero hacer deporte antes.
The statements
- Esta persona no puede estudiar por la mañana.
- Esta persona quiere hacer deporte antes del trabajo.
- Esta persona no necesita aparcamiento.
- Esta persona solo tiene tiempo el sábado y el domingo.
Answers: 1 B, 2 D, 3 A, 4 C.
Read the reason, not the noun
Every one of these texts names a time or a constraint, and the statement paraphrases the reason rather than the thing. No tengo coche becomes no necesita aparcamiento. De lunes a viernes no tengo tiempo libre becomes solo tiene tiempo el sábado y el domingo.
So underline the because. In matching tasks at A1, the answer sits in the explanation, not in the request.
Sample paper 4: Tarea 4, texto largo con ocho preguntas
The longest text in the paper is 175- 210 words, with eight three-option questions. This is the biggest single block of marks.
Those four cover the reading paper. The other three A1 papers, and every paper from A2 to B2, are indexed with our DELE sample papers.
The text
Lea el texto y responda a las preguntas.
LA ESCUELA DE MÚSICA DEL BARRIO
La Escuela de Música Armonía está en el barrio de Triana, en Sevilla. Abrió en 2015 y hoy tiene más de doscientos alumnos.
Las clases son para niños y para adultos. Los niños van por la tarde, de cinco a siete, y los adultos por la noche, de ocho a diez. Los sábados por la mañana hay clases para toda la familia.
En la escuela se puede aprender guitarra, piano, violín y canto. El instrumento más popular es la guitarra: casi la mitad de los alumnos la estudia.
El precio es de cuarenta euros al mes para los niños y cincuenta para los adultos. Los alumnos no tienen que comprar el instrumento el primer año, porque la escuela lo presta.
Cada mes de junio los alumnos dan un concierto en la plaza del barrio. Es gratis y viene mucha gente. El año pasado vinieron más de quinientas personas.
Para más información hay que llamar por teléfono o escribir un correo. La escuela no tiene página web.
Four of the eight items
1. ¿Cuándo van los niños a clase? a) Por la mañana b) Por la tarde c) Por la noche
2. ¿Qué instrumento estudian más alumnos? a) El piano b) La guitarra c) El violín
3. ¿Qué pasa el primer año? a) Las clases son gratis b) La escuela presta el instrumento c) Hay que comprar el instrumento
4. ¿Cómo se pide información? a) Por internet b) Por teléfono o correo c) En la plaza del barrio
Answers: 1 b, 2 b, 3 b, 4 b.
How the eight items map onto the text
Six paragraphs, eight questions, and they follow the text in order. Question 1 sits in paragraph two, question 2 in paragraph three, and so on.
That is why you read the questions first. Eight items in 200 words means roughly one question every twenty-five words, so you are never searching the whole text for an answer.
Item 4 is the trap worth noting. The final sentence says the school has no website, so option A is exactly wrong. A1 papers close with a negative detail more often than you would expect.
How should you pace the 45 minutes?
Allow 10 minutes for Tarea 1, 7 minutes for Tarea 2, 8 minutes for Tarea 3, 15 minutes for Tarea 4, and keep 5 minutes at the end to transfer answers and fill blanks. Tarea 4 has the largest share, accounting for 8 of the 25 items.
Write those five numbers on your rough paper before you start. Check them off as you go.
The five reserve minutes are not optional. Blank answers score zero, and there’s no penalty for wrong answers, so every empty box at the end is a guaranteed loss you could have converted into a one-in-three chance.
Getting this pacing into muscle memory takes three or four full-time papers. Doing them under real conditions matters, which is why our DELE A1 coaching runs the reading paper against a clock from week two rather than saving mocks for the end.
Where A1 candidates lose reading points
- Scanning for a keyword instead of reading the sentence. The keyword is usually in the distractor.
- Missing negatives. No tengo coche. Decides an item, and it’s easy to skim past.
- Ignoring time expressions. Los lunes, por la tarde, ahora, en agosto. These separate the true statement from the correct one.
- Expecting the same words. Matching tasks paraphrase almost everything.
- Overspending on Tarea 1. First, it’s readable, and it’s only five of 25 items.
- Leaving boxes blank. No penalty for wrong answers, so there’s no reason ever to do this.
- Forgetting the three unused texts in matching tasks. Candidates force a match because they assume everything pairs up.
Point six is worth repeating because it’s the easiest fix in the entire diploma. In fifteen years of grading mock papers, blank answers on the reading test remain the most avoidable score loss I see.
Taking listening as well? That paper has 25 items in 25 minutes. See the DELE A1 listening sample papers.
The vocabulary base that covers this paper
The A1 reading paper draws from a narrow, predictable set of fields. Cover these, and you’ll recognize most of what appears:
- Personal information: nationality, age, family, occupation
- Home: rooms, furniture, city, and neighborhood
- Daily routine and time: days, months, hours, frequency words
- Work and study: jobs, subjects, schedules
- Food and shopping: meals, prices, shops, menus
- Transport: bus, metro, bicycle, station, ticket
- Public notices: abierto, cerrado, prohibido, gratis, necesario, guardia, rebajas
- Health and leisure: pharmacy, appointment, gym, park, museum, cinema
That last group, the language of signs and notices, is the one self-study candidates neglect most. It barely appears in coursebooks, and it makes up two full tasks of the exam.
Not sure this is your level? What A1 certifies sets out the descriptors.
How is comprensión de lectura scored at A1?
Reading is worth 25 points out of the diploma’s 100. At A1, it’s grouped with writing, and that pair needs at least 30 points out of 50. Listening and speaking form the other group, and the two groups do not compensate for each other.
Reading is the most controllable paper in the group, which makes it the sensible place to build a cushion for your writing score. Many candidates find writing harder at A1 because production is harder than recognition. A strong reading result gives the writing paper room to be imperfect.
If you need results faster than three months, SIELE exam coaching is worth considering.
Taking speaking as well? That paper is 10 minutes long and covers three tasks. See the DELE A1 speaking sample papers.
A two-week reading plan
Days 1 to 3. Notices and signs only. Photograph or collect twenty Spanish public notices and determine what each one permits, forbids, or announces.
Days 4 to 6. Tarea 1 and Tarea 4 style texts, one a day, untimed. Focus on underlining negatives and time expressions.
Days 7 to 9. Matching tasks only, timed at seven minutes each.
Days 10 to 12. Full 45-minute papers with the pacing plan written out. Use a free official DELE A1 Spanish practice paper for at least one of these.
Days 13 to 14. Two full papers back-to-back with the writing paper, since that’s how you’ll sit them.
If you’d rather work through this with your errors diagnosed rather than just counted, DELE exam coaching covers the reading paper with graded mocks and error analysis.
Candidates outside Delhi NCR use the same material through our remote Spanish classes.
For a side-by-side comparison of the certificates, see the Spanish proficiency tests.
Taking the paper in India
DELE runs six times a year in India, in February, April, May, July, October, and November, at Instituto Cervantes New Delhi on Hanuman Road. Registration closes roughly six to eight weeks before each session, and the 2026 A1 fee is ₹5,700 plus 18% GST.
Reading comes first in the morning block, immediately followed by writing. That’s 45 minutes of reading and then 25 minutes of writing with no meaningful gap, so rehearse the pair together.
Make reading your safety net
The A1 reading paper is learnable in a way the oral paper isn’t. Fixed task shapes, predictable vocabulary fields, distractors that follow the same three or four patterns every session. Work the pacing plan, learn the language of notices, and never leave a box blank.
Want your reading mocks marked with your error patterns identified? Join the next DELE A1 batch in Noida or online. Call us, message on WhatsApp, or come to the Sector 18 center for a free level assessment before you register for a session. Four to six students per batch, mock papers included.