Most guides to DELE A1 writing start with grammar. This one starts with counting, because that is what the scoring scales do first. Every figure below is based on the official scoring scales published by Instituto Cervantes.
The A1 written expression paper gives you 25 minutes and two tasks. Combined, you’ll produce somewhere between 45 and 65 words of Spanish. That’s it. Less than a text message thread. For comparison, the A1 Spanish reading papers put up to 925 words in front of you in 45 minutes.
And yet candidates fail this paper regularly, usually for one reason. They wrote 24 words when the task asked for 30 to 40.
What is in DELE A1 expresión e interacción escritas?
The DELE A1 written expression and interaction test lasts 25 minutes and contains two tasks. Task 1 is a form plus a few short written answers, 15 to 25 words. Task 2 is a short personal message, such as an email, note, or postcard, 30- 40 words.
Both tasks are described as “interacción escrita” (written interaction). You’re never asked to write an essay or an opinion piece at this level. Every task involves communicating with a real person for a practical reason: registering for something, replying to a friend, leaving a message.
Writing is worth 25 points of the diploma’s 100. At A1, it’s grouped with reading, and that pair needs 30 points out of 50 to pass. Listening and speaking form the second group. Neither group rescues the other, so a strong reading score gives you some cushion here but not unlimited cover. What a full DELE Spanish session involves sets out how the four papers fit together on the day.
New to this paper? The DELE A1 writing guide explains the task structure in plain terms.
Why does word count decide your score before grammar?
The A1 scoring scale for task 2 sets explicit length thresholds. Writing 30 to 40 words puts you in the top band. Writing 20 to 29 words drops you a band even if the Spanish is correct. Writing 0 to 19 words means the task isn’t scored at all.
Read that last line again. Under 20 words on Task 2, and the examiner does not assess your Spanish. There’s no partial credit for a beautifully written 15-word answer.
| Words written on Tarea 2 | Outcome |
|---|---|
| 30 to 40 | Full band available |
| 20 to 29 | Band drops |
| 0 to 19 | Task not evaluated |
This is unusual among language exams, and it catches out strong candidates far more often than weak ones. Strong candidates write efficiently. Efficiency is the wrong instinct here.
The fix is simple and slightly tedious. Practice writing to a length of 35 words until it feels like a physical shape you can recognize on the page. Most learners need six or seven attempts before they stop having to count.
Sample paper 1: Tarea 1, formulario de inscripción
The prompt
Tarea 1
Usted quiere hacer un curso de español en Salamanca, en España. Complete el formulario de inscripción de la escuela.
FORMULARIO DE INSCRIPCIÓN
Nombre: …… Apellidos: …… Nacionalidad: …… Fecha de nacimiento: …… Ciudad y país: …… Correo electrónico: …… Teléfono: ……
¿Estudia o trabaja? …… ¿Por qué quiere estudiar español? …… ¿Cuántas horas quiere estudiar cada semana? ……
Escriba entre 15 y 25 palabras en las tres últimas preguntas.
A model answer
Nombre: Ananya Apellidos: Sharma Nacionalidad: india Fecha de nacimiento: 14 de marzo de 2001 Ciudad y país: Noida, India Correo electrónico: ananya.sharma@correo.com Teléfono: +91 98100 00000
¿Estudia o trabaja? Trabajo en una oficina en Noida. ¿Por qué quiere estudiar español? Quiero hablar con los clientes de México. ¿Cuántas horas quiere estudiar cada semana? Quiero estudiar seis horas cada semana.
The three open answers total 22 words, inside the 15 to 25 band.
What gets scored and what doesn’t
The form fields themselves are not where the points live. Your name and phone number can’t be graded for Spanish. The three open questions are the assessed part.
Answer them in full sentences. “Oficina” alone is a word, not an answer. “Trabajo en una oficina” is a sentence and counts as one.
Two details that trip people up. Nationalities are lowercase in Spanish, so india not India. Dates are written day then month, and the month is lowercase: 14 de marzo de 2001.
Sample paper 2: Tarea 2, mensaje breve con respuesta
The prompt
Tarea 2
Usted va a visitar a un amigo español el próximo mes. Escríbale un correo electrónico. En el correo debe:
- saludar
- decir cuándo llega y a qué hora
- decir qué quiere hacer en su ciudad
- preguntar por el tiempo
- despedirse
Escriba entre 30 y 40 palabras.
A model answer
Hola Carlos:
¿Cómo estás? Llego a Madrid el sábado doce de marzo, a las nueve de la mañana. Quiero visitar el museo y comer contigo. ¿Hace frío en marzo?
Hasta pronto, Ananya
That’s 32 words, safely inside the band, and every one of the five required points is covered.
How to build a 35-word answer that hits every point
Five bullet points, five short moves. Give each one a sentence, and you’ll land near 35 words without trying.
| Instruction | Your sentence | Words |
|---|---|---|
| saludar | Hola, Carlos: ¿Cómo estás? | 4 |
| cuándo llega | Llego a Madrid el sábado doce de marzo, a las nueve de la mañana. | 14 |
| qué quiere hacer | Quiero visitar el museo y comer contigo. | 7 |
| preguntar por el tiempo | ¿Hace frío en marzo? | 4 |
| despedirse | Hasta pronto, Ananya | 3 |
Total 32. If you’re short, expand the “what you want to do” line, because it’s the easiest one to stretch naturally. If you’re over 40, cut adjectives, not instructions.
Counting words in the exam without wasting time
Don’t count word by word at the end. Count as you go, in chunks.
Write your greeting; note “4”. Write your arrival sentence; note “14”. Keep a running total in the margin. Cross it out before you hand in the paper, or write the numbers on your rough paper.
Numerals count as words. “12” is one word, “doce” is one word. Writing dates out in full gives you more words, which helps if you tend to run short. That’s a legitimate exam tactic, not cheating.
Sample paper 3: Tarea 1, segundo formulario
A second task 1, because the form changes but the scoring does not.
The prompt
Tarea 1
Usted quiere hacerse socio de una biblioteca en Valencia. Complete el formulario.
SOLICITUD DE CARNÉ DE BIBLIOTECA
Nombre y apellidos: …… Nacionalidad: …… Fecha de nacimiento: …… Dirección en Valencia: …… Teléfono: ……
¿Es estudiante? …… ¿Qué tipo de libros le gusta leer? …… ¿Cuántos días a la semana puede venir? ……
Escriba entre 15 y 25 palabras en las tres últimas preguntas.
A model answer
Nombre y apellidos: Rohan Mehta Nacionalidad: india Fecha de nacimiento: 3 de junio de 1998 Dirección en Valencia: calle Colón, 24 Teléfono: 611 22 33 44
¿Es estudiante? Sí, estudio español en una academia. ¿Qué tipo de libros le gusta leer? Me gustan las novelas y los libros de historia. ¿Cuántos días a la semana puede venir? Puedo venir dos días, los martes y los jueves.
The three open answers total 24 words, just inside the band.
What changed and what did not
The subject changed from a language course to a library card. The rules did not. Full sentences in the open answers, lowercase nationality, day before month, and a word count you check before moving on.
That is the point of practicing a second form. Task 1 always looks new and always tests the same four things.
Sample paper 4: Tarea 2, postal desde la India
Writing is one paper of four. The reading, listening and speaking papers at this level are in our DELE sample papers.
The prompt
Tarea 2
Usted está de vacaciones en Jaipur. Escriba una postal a su profesora de español. En la postal debe:
- saludar
- decir dónde está y con quién
- decir qué tiempo hace
- decir dos cosas que ha visto
- despedirse
Escriba entre 30 y 40 palabras.
A model answer
¡Hola, Marta!
Estoy en Jaipur con mi hermana. Hace mucho calor, treinta y ocho grados. Hemos visto un palacio muy bonito y un mercado enorme. Mañana vamos a Delhi.
¡Hasta pronto! Rohan
35 words, inside the band, every instruction covered.
Why a postcard is not an email
The text type changed, so the shape changed. A postcard opens with an exclamation and a first name, uses the present tense for where you are now, and closes short. No Estimada señora, no subject line, no formal sign-off.
Get the genre right, and you bank the task completion marks before the examiner reads a single verb ending.
How should you split the 25 minutes?
Give task 1 about 10 minutes and task 2 about 15. Task 2 carries the longer text and the tighter length rule, so it needs the extra time and a final read-through.
A workable rhythm inside those 15 minutes:
- 2 minutes reading the instructions and underlining the five required points
- 8 minutes drafting
- 3 minutes counting and adjusting length
- 2 minutes checking verb endings and accents
Underlining the bullet points sounds trivial. It isn’t. Missing one instruction is the second most common way to lose points on this paper, right behind writing too little.
Getting this rhythm automatic takes a handful of timed attempts under real conditions. Our DELE A1 classes set timed writing tasks weekly from the first month, graded against the official length bands, so the counting becomes a habit rather than exam-day panic.
What do examiners mean by “follow the instructions”?
The official guidance is blunt on this: candidates must strictly follow instructions regarding the word count and text format. Format refers to the type of text requested. If the task says email, write an email with a greeting and a sign-off.
A postcard, a note left on a table, and an email all look different in Spanish. Producing the wrong shape costs points even when the content is right.
Standard openings and closings worth memorizing:
- Email or letter to a friend: Hola Carlos: … Hasta pronto, / Un abrazo,
- Formal email to a school or company: Buenos días: … Saludos cordiales,
- Note or message: Carlos, … Gracias,
Spanish uses a colon after the greeting in letters and emails, not a comma. Small thing, easy mark.
The four text types Tarea 2 can ask for
Task 2 rotates through a small set of text types. Each one has a shape, and producing the wrong shape costs you points even when the Spanish is clean.
| Text type | Opens with | Closes with | Extra feature |
|---|---|---|---|
| Correo electrónico | Hola Ana: | Un saludo, / Hasta pronto, | Often needs a subject line if the paper gives you a field |
| Carta a un amigo | Querida Ana: | Un abrazo, | Slightly warmer register than an email |
| Nota o mensaje | Ana, | Gracias, + your name | No greeting formula, straight to the point |
| Postal | ¡Hola desde Madrid! | Besos, / Hasta pronto, | Present tense about where you are now |
The note is the one candidates get wrong most often. A nota is something you leave on a kitchen table or a colleague’s desk. It doesn’t open with Buenos días, and it doesn’t need a formal sign-off. Two or three quick sentences and your name.
Here’s the same information written as three different text types, so you can see how much the shape changes:
As an email: Hola, Ana: Llego el martes a las ocho. ¿Puedes venir al aeropuerto? Muchas gracias. Hasta pronto, Ananya
As a note: Ana, llego el martes a las ocho. ¿Puedes venir al aeropuerto? Gracias, Ananya
As a postcard: ¡Hola desde Delhi! Estoy muy bien. Llego a Madrid el martes a las ocho. ¿Nos vemos? Besos, Ananya
Same content, three different openings, three different closings. Read the task instructions twice and produce the shape it asked for.
One more format detail worth knowing. If the prompt provides a subject field (Asunto:), fill it in. Leaving it blank counts as an unfollowed instruction, and it costs you the same as forgetting a bullet point.
Sentence frames that carry an A1 candidate through any task
At A1, you don’t need range; you need reliability. Ten frames handle almost every prompt the exam sets.
- Me llamo … y soy de …
- Vivo en … con …
- Trabajo en … / Estudio … en …
- Llego el … a las …
- Quiero … / No quiero …
- Me gusta … / No me gusta …
- ¿Puedes …? / ¿Puede usted …?
- ¿Cuánto cuesta…?
- Necesito …
- Gracias por …
Drill these until you can produce them without thinking. Every one of them appears in the model answers above.
A1 listening gives you 25 items in 25 minutes. Start with the A1 Spanish listening papers.
Errors that cost points on the A1 writing paper
- Writing under 20 words on task 2, which voids the task entirely.
- Missing one of the required bullet points.
- Writing a paragraph when the task asked for an email, or the reverse.
- Capitalizing nationalities, months, and days. Spanish keeps them lowercase.
- Dropping accents on verb endings, so llego becomes llegó, which changes the tense and the meaning.
- Using English words as filler. The scales treat borrowing from other languages as a lowest-band marker.
- Copying whole phrases from the prompt to pad length. Examiners’ discount lifted text.
Number seven deserves a note. Padding with the prompt’s own words is a habit I see constantly in mock papers from self-study candidates. It inflates the count without adding anything the examiner can credit.
Paperwork, deadlines, and session mechanics are covered in how the DELE is organized.
Your last two minutes: a six-point check
Save two minutes at the end and run this list. It takes about ninety seconds once you have practiced it, and it catches the errors that cost whole bands rather than single marks.
- Count the words on task 2. Are you between 30 and 40?
- Tick off each bullet point from the prompt against your text. All five covered?
- Is the text type right? Are greetings and sign-offs present if it asks for an email or letter?
- Check every verb ending. First-person or third-person, and does it match who you meant?
- Scan for capital letters on nationalities, months, and days. Lowercase them.
- Any English or Hindi words hiding in there? Replace or delete them.
Do this in the same order every time. Order matters because points 1 to 3 can cost you a band, and points 4 to 6 cost you fractions of a band.
Need a certificate sooner than the DELE calendar allows? A SIELE certificate course reports results in about three weeks.
The A1 speaking paper is 10 minutes long and consists of three tasks. The DELE A1 speaking samples walk through every task.
A two-week writing practice plan
Days 1 to 3. Write three Task 2 messages a day, 30- 40 words each, no timer. Count everyone. Get used to the shape.
Days 4 to 6. Same, but with a 15-minute timer. Underline the bullet points before you start.
Days 7 to 9. Add task 1. Full 25-minute papers, both tasks.
Days 10 to 12. Swap papers with a study partner and check each other’s word counts and missed instructions before looking at grammar.
Days 13 to 14. Two full-time papers using the official DELE A1 Spanish model exam from Instituto Cervantes.
If you’d rather have the grading done against the published scales rather than guessing, graded DELE practice includes written papers returned with band-level feedback.
Candidates outside Delhi NCR do the same work in Spanish classes from home.
The options open to learners in India are set out in the Spanish test options.
Booking the A1 paper in India
DELE sessions run six times a year in India: February, April, May, July, October, and November. The exam center is the Instituto Cervantes New Delhi on Hanuman Road, and registration typically closes six to eight weeks in advance. The 2026 A1 fee is ₹5,700 before 18% GST.
Reading and writing are usually sat in the same block on the same morning, so your 25 minutes of writing comes after a 45-minute reading paper. Practice them back-to-back at least twice before exam day. Fresh-brain writing practice is not the same experience.
Start writing to length this week
The A1 writing paper rewards a specific, learnable discipline: cover every instruction, produce the right text type, and land inside the word band. Grammar matters, but it matters second.
If you want your practice papers graded the way an examiner would mark them, join the next DELE A1 batch in Noida or online. Call us, message us on WhatsApp, or drop into the Sector 18 center, and we’ll show you where your current writing sits against the bands. Batches stay at four to six students, so every paper gets read properly.