If you’ve reached this article, it’s likely that, for some reason, you need to take the SIELE exam, but you’re not exactly sure what the exam is like or where to start studying. You’re in the right place. Stay until the end, and I’ll explain what SIELE is, what it’s for, and how to prepare for this exam.
SIELE stands for Servicio Internacional de Evaluación de la Lengua Española (International Spanish Language Evaluation Service). It’s an official, international exam that certifies your knowledge of Spanish.
The exam is promoted and developed by the Instituto Cervantes and three highly recognized universities in the Spanish-speaking world: the National Autonomous University of Mexico, the University of Salamanca in Spain, and the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina.
This ensures quality standards and good practices in test development, as well as the use of various linguistic variations from the Spanish-speaking world.
Alright, so far we’ve said that SIELE is an international exam, created by recognized institutions, that serves to certify your Spanish language proficiency.
Specifically, SIELE certifies four skills:
Reading Comprehension: Your ability to read and understand texts in Spanish.
Listening Comprehension: Your ability to understand spoken Spanish.
Written Production: Your capacity to write texts in Spanish.
Oral Production: Your ability to effectively speak in Spanish.
And how does it certify those skills?
The SIELE is a single multilevel exam taken by all candidates alike, whether they’re beginners or advanced. Based on your performance in the exam tasks, you’ll be placed at a level of Spanish according to the levels of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
What is the Common European Framework?
The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR for short) is a document developed by the Council of Europe that proposes a standardization of levels of comprehension and oral and written expression in languages. This framework aims to be an international pattern for measuring language proficiency in foreign speakers. The levels are A1, A2 (beginner), B1, B2 (intermediate), C1, and C2 (advanced).
So, if we say a student of Spanish (or any language, as this framework suggests standardization for all languages) has a B2 level, we know that this student is capable, for example, of reading academic texts in this language and attending classes at a Spanish-speaking university. If, on the other hand, we say they have an A2 level, we know they can engage in informal conversations on everyday topics but won’t be able to sustain, for example, a discussion on economics with complex arguments.
It’s a computer-based exam. It’s entirely online. You can take it at an accredited SIELE center, and in that case, you’ll go to the center on the exam day and take the test on a computer provided there. You can also take it from home with your own computer; in that case, you’ll be taking the remote SIELE.
The test is conducted on a platform specially created for SIELE, and you won’t interact with a person at any point. This is interesting for those who are very shy or get very nervous during oral exams when they have to speak with another person. Here, it’s just you and the computer, no one else.
The SIELE global, which is the comprehensive version of SIELE, consists of 4 tests: Reading Comprehension, Listening Comprehension, Written Expression and Interaction, and Oral Expression and Interaction. Each test has a maximum score of 250 points.
In the Reading Comprehension test, you’ll read different types of texts with varying degrees of complexity (from informal emails to journalistic and academic texts) and answer closed questions, multiple-choice style (they give you options, and you have to choose the correct answer), about the content of the texts. The maximum time for this test is 60 minutes, and it’s automatically graded.
In Listening Comprehension: you’ll listen to audios with dialogues, monologues, conferences, and answer questions, again, closed questions (choosing the correct option) about the content of the audios. The maximum time for this test is 55 minutes. This test is also automatically graded.
In the Written Expression and Interaction test, you’ll write two texts. The first is simpler and shorter, responding to a stimulus. The second is longer and more challenging, such as writing an opinion piece or a letter to the editor of a newspaper. The maximum time to complete this test is 50 minutes. This test’s content is recorded and evaluated later by expert SIELE assessors.
In the Oral Expression and Interaction test, you’ll speak and record audios answering the questions. The maximum time to complete this test is 15 minutes, with a total value of 250 points. The content of this test is recorded and evaluated later by expert SIELE assessors.
Each test has several tasks. The Listening Comprehension test has 6 tasks; the Reading Comprehension test has 5 tasks; the Oral test has 5 tasks as well, and the Written test has 2 tasks.
The tasks progressively increase in difficulty in each test as they assess different levels.
For example, task 1 of the Oral test is straightforward, where you have to answer 4 personal questions like, what is your nationality, how do you prepare your favorite meal, what are your plans for the next vacation, just to give you an example. But in task 4 of this test, you might encounter a text on an environmental issue, about which you have to provide a well-elaborated opinion by answering a series of questions.
Each task is more challenging than the previous one because each task is designed for different levels of the CEFR. So, to do task 1 of the Oral test, you need at least an A1 level, and to respond adequately, A2. To answer task 4 appropriately, you need to have a B2 level (that is, advanced).
Perhaps the most notable feature of SIELE is that there are no set dates for the exam, unlike DELE or CELU, which have specific exam dates throughout the year, designated days to take the test. With SIELE, it’s different.
Each SIELE test center publishes its own exam dates, providing you with multiple options for when and where to take the SIELE exam to certify your Spanish. Additionally, if you don’t live close to a test center, no problem. You can purchase the remote exam to take at home. When you buy the exam, they will provide instructions for downloading a special browser onto your computer to take the SIELE.
The options for exam dates and times are extensive. It’s likely that if you log into the SIELE platform right now, you’ll find an available exam for next week.
The results of your SIELE exam will be available within a maximum period of 3 weeks, often even earlier. This is super fast compared to other exams like DELE, whose results are released within a maximum of 3 months.
Once the exam results are out, you can download the certificate yourself from the official SIELE website. When you purchase the exam, you’ll need to create a user account on the SIELE website. Right there, in your user window, the certificate will appear for download once your results are ready
The SIELE Spanish certificate is valid for 5 years. In other words, after these 5 years, you won’t be able to continue using the same certificate to verify your Spanish proficiency in institutions. You will need to retake the exam to certify your Spanish again.
Get the level of Spanish you need
The first thing you need to know is what level you need to achieve in the SIELE, what level the institution requiring the certificate is asking for. If they don’t specify a particular level, think about the level you personally want to attain in the SIELE.
If you don’t currently have that level of Spanish, you’ll need to focus first on studying Spanish to reach that level. For example, if you need to achieve a B2 level and you don’t know any Spanish, it doesn’t make sense to start practicing, for instance, task 2 of the written test, where you have to write an opinion piece or a letter to a newspaper on an abstract and complex topic, because you won’t have the linguistic structures or vocabulary to do so. If this is your situation, you’ll first need to concentrate your efforts on learning Spanish, building your vocabulary, and mastering the grammatical structures needed for communication.
Practice with SIELE exam models
If you already have roughly the level of Spanish you need to achieve in the SIELE, the next step is to work on learning specific strategies for each of the tests. This is achieved by thoroughly understanding the structure of each test, knowing the tasks, understanding the response times, and being aware of the criteria used by assessors to evaluate your oral and written production.
To do this, you need to practice with SIELE exam models—practice tests. Practice solving the tasks while considering the maximum time for each task and each test.
This is crucial because SIELE is an exam with tight time constraints. For example, in the oral test, you’ll record your answers in audio format, and the recorder is automatically activated for each task. If you’re not familiar with the activation times and the time you have to speak, you may not perform well in the test. You might leave tasks unanswered or incomplete simply because you don’t understand the technical functioning of the test.
To practice for the SIELE, there are books you can acquire with models for each of the tests. For example, the publishers Edinumen and Edelsa have very good books to prepare for the SIELE.
I’m Anabella, a certified Spanish teacher, DELE examiner and official SIELE preparer from Argentina.
I have a degree in Spanish Linguistics and Literature, and I am currently continuing my career as a linguist doing research in Spanish grammar.
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