National Spanish Exam

The National Spanish Exam (NSE) is an online, standardized assessment competition for Grades 6 -12, given voluntarily by about 4,000 middle and high school teachers throughout the United States.

Interested in the competition?

Competition Overview

Grades 6-12 students

Eligibility

Starting from $5/ student

Exam Cost

Open Registration: October 16, 2025 - January 31, 2026
Late Registration: February 1-22, 2026

Registration Timeline

February 23 - April 3, 2026

Exam Time

📌 Note: Aralia is not the organizer of this competition. For official rules, deadlines, and updates, please refer directly to the competition organizer. Aralia provides listings and information about competitions for student reference. Aralia is an online education platform offering competition preparation classes to students worldwide.

Competition Details

1. Introduction

The National Spanish Exam (NSE) is an online, standardized assessment competition for Grades 6 -12, given voluntarily by about 4,000 middle and high school teachers throughout the United States to measure content standards (vocabulary and grammar) and performance standards (reading and listening comprehension) of students who are studying Spanish as a second language.

2. Exam Cost

Open Registration: $5/student
Late Registration: $7/student
Exam Administration Window: $9/student

3. Exam Structure (All Levels 01–6):

Content Exam (Vocabulary & Grammar): 40 minutes. Assesses students’ knowledge of vocabulary and grammar.
Performance Exam (Reading & Listening): 40 minutes. Evaluates interpretive communication through reading and listening comprehension.

The NSE is typically administered in a classroom setting, with students being given a set amount of time to complete each section. The exact format and length of the exam may vary yearly. Students who score well on the NSE may be recognized as National Spanish Exam Scholars, and may be eligible for awards and other recognition from the AATSP.

4. Timeline

Open Registration: October 16, 2025 – January 31, 2026
LATE Registration: February 1 – 22, 2026
Exam Window: February 23 – April 3, 2026

5. Awards

Gold Medal: ≥95th percentile (99th percentile is highest rank)
Silver Medal: ≥85th percentile
Bronze Medal: 75th–84th percentile
Honorable Mention: 50th–74th percentile
Perfect Score Medal: Awarded to students who answer all questions correctly (instead of Gold)

Competition Levels

Level 01: Novice Low/Mid (<A1) – For entry-level beginners, where the course content is equivalent to the first half of the Spanish 1 syllabus.

Level 1: Novice Mid/High (A1) – Course content is equivalent to the second half of Spanish 1 or entry-level for any program where the course content is equivalent to a full year of Spanish 1

Level 2: Novice High/Intermediate Low (A1/A2) – Spanish 2 syllabus.

Level 3: Intermediate Low/Mid (A2/B1) – Spanish 3 syllabus.

Level 4: Intermediate Mid/High (B1/B2) – Spanish 4 syllabus.

Level 5: Intermediate High/Advanced Low (B2) – Spanish 5 or AP Spanish.

Level 6: Advanced Low/Mid/High (B2/C1) – Spanish 6 or AP Literature.

Notes for AP/IB Students:

AP Language / IB-SL: Students who are enrolled in those courses should be registered to take the current year’s NSE at one level higher than the course in which they were enrolled the previous year. For example, an AP Language/IB-SL student who sat for the exam at Level 4 in 2023 should be placed in Level 5 in 2024.
AP Literature / IB-HL Students: Students who are enrolled in those courses must take the NSE at either Level 5 or 6.
Students are not allowed to repeat levels.