Citizenship Exams
Spain asks most applicants to pass two exams: DELE A2 for language and CCSE for civic knowledge. Who needs which, how each works, and how to prepare for both.
If you are applying for Spanish nationality by residence, you will almost certainly deal with the Instituto Cervantes, and probably twice. It runs both exams that most applicants need:
They are very different exams. One tests whether you can use a language. The other tests whether you know specific facts. Understanding that difference is the key to preparing efficiently.
Most applicants need both. The main exception: nationals of countries where Spanish is an official language, which includes most of Latin America and Equatorial Guinea, are exempt from DELE A2 and only take the CCSE.
Other exemptions exist, for example for applicants under 18 and for some people who completed their schooling in Spain. Rules on exemptions are applied case by case, so if you think one applies, confirm it before you skip an exam. See our guide to citizenship test exemptions for the wider picture.
Instead of DELE A2, you can also submit a certificate at A2, B1 or B2 from a Spanish Escuela Oficial de Idiomas, or a higher DELE level.
Because the question bank is public, the CCSE rewards systematic practice more than intelligence or fluency. Someone who has answered every question in the bank several times will pass. Our full CCSE guide and practice questions go deeper.
DELE A2 certifies that you can handle basic everyday situations in Spanish: understanding simple texts and announcements, describing your routine, writing a short message, having a simple conversation. It has four skills:
The skills are scored in two groups (reading with writing, listening with speaking), and you need to pass each group, so you cannot make up for a weak skill entirely with a strong one. DELE runs on fixed dates a few times a year, and results take several weeks to arrive. Typical cost is 120 to 150 euros, depending on the centre.
Book the DELE A2 first, sit the CCSE first. That sounds contradictory, but it reflects how the dates work. Registration for DELE sessions closes well before the exam date, and sessions are infrequent. Book the next session that gives you enough time to prepare. Then use the weeks before it to prepare for and pass the CCSE, which is the faster of the two.
Passing the CCSE early does two things. It gets one certificate in hand, and the vocabulary you learn for it (Constitution, Cortes Generales, comunidades autónomas, derechos, deberes) also helps your Spanish.
Study the CCSE in Spanish. The exam is in Spanish. If you study the question bank in Spanish from day one, you are also building reading skills for the DELE.
Practise speaking every day, even for five minutes. The speaking part is where many DELE candidates feel least prepared. Describe your day out loud. Answer simple questions about where you live and what you do.
Use real DELE A2 model exams. The Instituto Cervantes publishes sample papers. Do at least two full ones under timed conditions before the exam, so the format holds no surprises.
Keep CCSE sessions short and frequent. Twenty minutes a day of practice questions, with a running list of the ones you get wrong, will cover the bank in a few weeks. Section 1 questions on which article protects which right are where most marks are lost.
Both certificates go into your nationality application with the other documents. Our guide to becoming a Spanish citizen covers the whole application, and this step-by-step guide in Spanish walks through it in order.
The CCSE is a memory exam with a public answer key. The DELE A2 is a skills exam with no shortcuts. Book DELE early, pass the CCSE in the meantime, and study in Spanish so each exam helps with the other.
Stika Studio builds CivicPass, a citizenship exam prep app with the CCSE question bank and timed mock tests. It also covers the US, Canada, the UK, Germany, France, Sweden and Denmark.