4.3 The Official Writing Scale, Cohesion & Common Errors
Key Takeaways
Writing is rated on one scale with two categories: Uso de la lengua (66%) and Cumplimiento de la tarea (34%), each in bands 0–3.
Two independent raters score both tasks; their marks are averaged and converted to 25 points.
Band 2 accepts basic, even systematic errors that don't block understanding; band 1 is reached when errors and very basic structures make the message hard to follow.
Organizers, connectors and relative clauses (primero, después, porque, por eso, aunque, que, donde) move a text toward band 3.
Accents on past forms, opening ¿ and ¡ marks, and ser for where events take place are frequent, fixable errors.
Quick Focus: Prueba 3 is rated with one official scale that has two categories: Uso de la lengua (66% of each task's value) and Cumplimiento de la tarea (34%). Each category runs from band 0 to band 3, and band 2 is the A2 standard. Two independent raters score both tasks, and the final mark is their average, converted to 25 points. This section explains the descriptors, then the cohesion, spelling and interference problems that most often move a text from band 2 down to band 1.
The Official Scale
The Instituto Cervantes' exam guide describes the writing scale in four ordinal bands. Here is what each band says about use of language:
| Band | Use of language: official descriptor (summary) |
|---|---|
| 3 | Fairly precise; reasonable control of relatively simple elements (present subjunctive, future, periphrases, combination of pasts), though some errors remain. Cohesive texts with relative or noun clauses, frequent connectors (además, sin embargo, aunque, como) and organizers (por otro lado, en primer lugar) |
| 2 | Limited repertoire (present and past indicative, pronouns, possessives, frequent periphrases such as tener que and ir a) that transmits the messages in short sentences linked with organizers (primero, después), simple connectors (por eso) and/or relatives. Basic, systematic errors (ser/estar/haber, agreement, regular and irregular pasts, punctuation) that do not block understanding |
| 1 | Very basic vocabulary and structures (present, basic ser/estar) that are not enough to convey the information. Many basic errors, spelling mistakes, imprecise words and interference from other languages make the message hard to understand. Isolated sentences or very basic connectors (y, pero, porque) |
| 0 | Hard or impossible to understand even on rereading: loose words, disconnected phrases, words from other languages |
Task fulfilment (Cumplimiento de la tarea) is covered in 4.1. In short: band 3 adds a relevant detail, comment, opinion or reason; band 2 allows one point to be omitted or unclear; band 1 means two or more points are omitted or unclear.
Weights and raters
| Rater | Task | Uso de la lengua | Cumplimiento |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rater 1 (50%) | Tarea 1 | 16.50% | 8.50% |
| Tarea 2 | 16.50% | 8.50% | |
| Rater 2 (50%) | Tarea 1 | 16.50% | 8.50% |
| Tarea 2 | 16.50% | 8.50% |
Because use of language carries two thirds of the weight, accuracy and linking matter more than content alone. Content is still essential, though: a fluent text that ignores the points loses the other third and usually looks off-task.
What the official samples show
The exam guide publishes band-1 and band-2 texts:
- A band-2 Tarea 1 contained errors such as más mejor and por las diez, but they did not block understanding, and the candidate linked ideas with porque and pero bueno.
- A band-2 Tarea 2 used almost no connectors except y. It still passed because the message was clear and all the required content was there, but it missed band 3 because of weak cohesion and hesitation between past tenses.
- A band-1 text mixed forms such as quiero que ir and me limpiar, and invented words. The errors made parts of the message hard to understand.
The dividing line between bands 1 and 2 is therefore comprehensibility, not perfection.
Cohesion: From Band 2 to Band 3
A list of short, disconnected sentences stays at band 1 or 2:
Ayer fui a Madrid. Visité a mi hermano. Comimos juntos. Fuimos al cine.
Adding organizers, connectors and a relative clause gives a clearly band-2-plus text:
Ayer fui a Madrid porque quería ver a mi hermano. Primero comimos en un restaurante que está cerca de su casa y después fuimos al cine. Aunque estaba cansado, lo pasé muy bien.
| Function | Connectors |
|---|---|
| Sequence | primero, después, luego, más tarde, al final |
| Cause | porque, como (at the start of a sentence), es que |
| Result | por eso, así que |
| Contrast | pero, aunque, sin embargo |
| Addition | y (e before i-/hi-), también, además |
| Relatives | que, donde (la ciudad donde vivo, el amigo que te presenté) |
Porque / por qué / por eso: porque gives a reason (No fui porque estaba enfermo); ¿por qué? asks why; por eso introduces a result (Estaba enfermo; por eso no fui).
Spelling and Punctuation That Raters Notice
The band descriptors mention punctuation and spelling, and A2 candidates lose marks on a few predictable points:
- Accents on past forms: viajé, comí, llegó, visitó (regular indefinido); no accent on irregular stems (tuve, hizo, fue, dijo). Viajo (I travel) and viajó (he travelled) are different words.
- Imperfect -er/-ir: comía, vivía, tenía always carry an accent.
- Question and exclamation words: ¿Cuándo…? ¿Dónde…? ¡Qué bien!, and in indirect questions too (no sé dónde está).
- Opening marks: every question needs ¿ and every exclamation ¡.
- Está vs esta: ¿Dónde está? (verb) vs esta casa (this).
- Capitals: days, months and nationalities are lowercase in Spanish (el lunes, en mayo, soy francés).
- Greeting punctuation: Querido Luis: (colon) or ¡Hola, Luis! (comma before the name).
Interference Errors to Eliminate
| Wrong | Right | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Soy 25 años | Tengo 25 años | Age uses tener |
| La fiesta está en casa de Ana | La fiesta es en casa de Ana | Where an event takes place uses ser |
| Estoy buscando para un piso | Estoy buscando un piso | buscar takes a direct object |
| Pienso de ti | Pienso en ti | pensar en; ¿qué piensas de…? asks for an opinion |
| Asistí a mi amigo con la mudanza | Ayudé a mi amigo con la mudanza | asistir a = attend |
| Actualmente fui a… (meaning "actually") | En realidad fui a… | actualmente = currently |
| más mejor | mejor | mejor is already comparative |
| Me gustan bailar | Me gusta bailar | Infinitive subjects take singular gusta |
A Three-Minute Final Check
Keep the last few minutes of the 45 for this checklist:
- Points: tick every point in both tasks. Is anything missing?
- Agreement: article + noun + adjective (las calles estrechas, una experiencia inolvidable).
- Verbs: subject–verb agreement; past-tense endings and accents; ser/estar/haber.
- Punctuation: ¿…?, ¡…!, accents on question words.
- Register: tú or usted kept consistently.
Which two categories make up the official DELE A2 writing scale, and how are they weighted?
Fluency and pronunciation, 50% each.
Uso de la lengua (66%) and Cumplimiento de la tarea (34%).
Coherence, accuracy, range and communicative effect, 25% each.
A single holistic mark with no categories.
According to the official descriptors, what mainly separates band 2 from band 1 in Uso de la lengua?
In band 2, basic and even systematic errors do not prevent the message from being understood; in band 1, errors and very basic structures make understanding difficult.
Band 2 texts contain no errors at all.
Band 2 texts must use the present subjunctive.
Band 1 texts are those that exceed the word limit.
A candidate writes: «El año pasado mi hermano viajo a Colombia y visito muchas ciudades.» What is the error?
Colombia cannot follow the preposition a.
The verbs should be plural because it was a family trip.
The regular indefinido third-person forms need accents: viajó and visitó; without them they read as present-tense 'I travel' and 'I visit'.
Visitar cannot be used with ciudades.
Sections you finish are checked off in the contents.