The CCSE, Conocimientos Constitucionales y Socioculturales de España, is the knowledge test for Spanish nationality. It is sat in Spanish, it asks 25 questions in 45 minutes, and passing it is one of the conditions for nationality by residence.
7 days free, then 34,99 € a year.
The test is one step. See the whole journey on belongspain.appTwo from each of the five tareas, in the manual’s own order and in Spanish as the real paper is set, with an English translation underneath. The correct answer is marked. Tarea 2 is verdadero o falso and has two options; the rest offer three, exactly as on the day.
In which year was the current Spanish Constitution approved?
True or false? Same-sex marriage has been legal in Spain since 2005.
What is the longest river in Spain?
In which years did the Spanish Civil War take place?
What is the general VAT rate in Spain?
How was the 1978 Constitution approved?
True or false? The Spanish Constitution prohibits the death penalty in peacetime.
Which major Spanish river flows into the Mediterranean Sea?
Who ruled Spain as dictator from the end of the Civil War until 1975?
Between which ages is education compulsory in Spain?
450questions, drilled tarea by tarea in the order the Instituto Cervantes’ manual sets them, with a mistakes deck, spaced repetition and a mock in the real paper’s shape: 25 questions in 45 minutes, and a real apto or no apto, because all twenty-five come from one published manual.
Written by Belong Spain from the contents of the official manual. They are not the Instituto Cervantes’ questions, and the real sitting uses its own.
7 days free, then 34,99 € a year.
The whole app in English or Español, one tap.
15 out of 25. The Instituto Cervantes states it as 60 per cent. The paper is five tareas, you get 45 minutes at most, and every question is closed-answer and worth exactly the same, which article 6.3 of Real Decreto 1004/2015 sets out. There is no section you have to pass separately: 15 correct anywhere on the paper is an apto.
85 euro, and it buys two. The Instituto Cervantes says that each inscripción offers two opportunities to pass, and that the second has to be sat within six months of the first exam date. This is the single most misread fact about the CCSE: people who fail often pay a second 85 euro without realising they had already bought the retake.
On the last Thursday of every month, except August and December. That is the Instituto Cervantes' own published calendar and it does not vary by centre: the sitting is the same day everywhere. Registration closes before the date rather than on it, so the month you sit is decided by when you register rather than by when you are ready.
Not everyone does. Under article 6.6 of the Reglamento, the legal representatives of people under eighteen and of people whose capacity has been judicially modified show integration with certificates from the school, residence or care centre instead of sitting the paper. The Instituto Cervantes also says that people who completed compulsory secondary education in Spain can be dispensed from the CCSE, on proof. The DELE A2 is a separate matter: nationals of the twenty Spanish-speaking countries article 6.5 lists are exempt from that one, and from that one only.
Four years, counted from the date the acta de calificación is approved rather than from the day you sat. That is the Instituto Cervantes' own wording. It matters more in Spain than in most countries, because a nationality file can sit with the DGSJFP for a year or more: passing very early in a ten year residence period can mean the certificate expires before the application is made.
No. Article 6.1 of Real Decreto 1004/2015 asks applicants to pass both: the DELE at level A2 or above, which tests Spanish as a language, and the CCSE, which tests knowledge of the Constitution and of Spanish social and cultural life. Both are run by the Instituto Cervantes and they are booked, paid for and sat separately. Passing one says nothing about the other.
Spanish nationality by residence also asks for 10 years of legal, continuous residence on the general route, Spanish at DELE A2 or an exemption and good civic conduct, each with its own rules on absences and timing.
See all Spanish nationality requirements
Rules as of 1 September 2026 (snapshot 2026.2), from the Ministerio de la Presidencia, Justicia y Relaciones con las Cortes.
