PAU English Castile and León 2027: exam format, marking and tips

If you’re taking the PAU in Castile and León (formerly the EBAU, or selectividad), the English exam has one feature that sets it apart from almost every other region: 7 of the 10 marks are for reading comprehension. There’s no listening and there are no separate grammar exercises. Everything revolves around a single text, usually an adapted article from The New York Times, plus a short piece of writing of 120 to 150 words.

In this guide I explain what the Castile and León PAU English exam is like, based on the official marking criteria and the 2025 and 2026 papers: what you have to do in each section, how much it’s worth, what loses you marks, how the writing is marked with the rubric, how to manage your time, and a worked example of each part. All explained from my experience preparing students for official exams. Let’s get started! 🙂

If you’re looking for an overview of the test (what the PAU is, how much English counts towards your mark or what level you need), you’ll find it in my guide to the PAU English exam.

What the Castile and León PAU English exam is like

The Lengua Extranjera II: Inglés exam lasts 90 minutes (in 2026 it was on Wednesday 3 June, from 9:00 to 10:30), is marked out of 10 and has five sections, all based on the same text except the writing:

The first four sections make up the comprehension task (7 marks) and the fifth is the writing task (3 marks). The instructions are in English and in capitals, and you don’t choose between two papers: the only choice is the writing topic.

In practice, this means that reading well is more than half the exam. The texts are real newspaper articles, adapted, on current topics: food tourism, city life, technology… They’re written for native readers, so get used to reading the press in English during the school year.

Section 1: True or false (2 marks)

You’re given 4 statements about the text and you have to say whether they’re true or false, quoting the words or sentence from the text that prove it. Each one is worth 0.5, and this is the most important rule in the whole exam:

If you don’t justify your answer, it scores 0, even if you got the TRUE or FALSE right.

Here’s an example with an extract written for this guide:

Although Emma had planned to spend the whole summer working in her parents’ shop, she ended up travelling around Scotland with two friends she had met online.

Statement: Emma spent the summer working in her parents’ shop.

• ✅ FALSE. «She ended up travelling around Scotland with two friends she had met online.»
• ❌ FALSE. (no justification: 0 marks)
• ❌ FALSE. «Emma had planned to spend the whole summer working in her parents’ shop.» (that sentence proves nothing: it says what she planned to do, not what she did)

Notice the trap in the third answer: the sentence that looks most like the statement is hardly ever the one that justifies it. The statements are written so that you recognise words from the text (summer, parents’ shop), but the key is usually a little further on, after a but, although, however or ended up.

My tips for this section:

• Copy the specific sentence that proves it, in inverted commas, not the whole paragraph.
• The statements usually follow the order of the text: number 1 is near the beginning and number 4 near the end.
• Be wary of absolute words in the statement (always, never, impossible, only). They’re often what makes it false.

Section 2: Open questions (2 marks)

You answer 2 questions about the text, worth 1 mark each. The instructions make it clear: your answer must not be a literal copy of the text, although you can use some of its words. Each mark is split like this:

• 0.5 for the ideas: if the answer contains several ideas, each one is worth its share. If the full answer has two ideas and you only give one, you get 0.25.
• 0.5 for the expression: well written and in your own words.

An example written for this guide:

Text: Many small bookshops have closed in recent years because they cannot compete with the low prices offered by online retailers.

Question: Why have many small bookshops closed?

• ✅ Because online shops sell books much more cheaply, so small bookshops are unable to compete with them.
• ❌ Because they cannot compete with the low prices offered by online retailers. (a literal copy: you lose the marks for expression)

To rephrase, swap the content words for synonyms (retailers → shops, cannot → are unable to) and, if you can, change the structure as well (low prices → sell much more cheaply). And search the text carefully: sometimes the second idea of the answer is in another paragraph.

Section 3: Vocabulary (1.5 marks)

It has two parts:

• 3.1 A definition (0.3): you’re given the definition of a word and you have to find it in the text.
• 3.2 Three synonyms (1.2, 0.4 each): you’re given three words and you have to find a synonym for each one in the text.

The trick to getting them right is to look at the part of speech. If you’re given a verb in the past, the synonym will be a verb in the past; if you’re given an adjective, you’re looking for an adjective; if the definition starts with a person who… or the act of…, you’re looking for a noun. For example (written for this guide):

Write a single word, exactly as it appears in the text, and don’t give two options «just in case». The more B2 vocabulary you have, the easier this section gets: the 50 most common phrasal verbs and their formal equivalents are a good place to start.

Section 4: Multiple choice (1.5 marks)

There are 3 multiple-choice questions about the text, with four options (A, B, C or D), worth 0.5 each. For the answer to count, it’s enough to write the capital letter, or the letter and the full option.

It’s the easiest section of the exam: the questions are usually about specific information (a place, a name, a figure), and wrong answers don’t lose marks. But don’t answer from memory: always go back to the text and check the answer in the exact sentence. It’s the easiest way to secure 1.5 marks.

Section 5: Composition (3 marks)

You’re given two topics and you choose one. The composition must be between 120 and 150 words. You’re not told what type of text to write: the topics are questions asking for your view, and they almost always fall into one of these four types (all from the 2025 and 2026 papers):

Whatever the topic, your composition needs an introduction, a body and a conclusion. The criteria accept a «mixed structure», but those three parts have to be there and have to be clear.

How the composition is marked

With a rubric of six criteria, grouped into two blocks of 1.5 marks. The examiner ticks the band that best describes your text for each criterion and adds up the values:

The first three make up the task and cohesion block and the last three the language block. If the content has nothing to do with the task, can’t be understood or you don’t write the composition at all, the mark is 0.

What matters most about this rubric:

• Four of the six criteria are worth 0.6: answering the task, organising well, varying your grammar and varying your vocabulary. That’s 80% of the mark.
• Word count matters. Writing fewer than 120 words, or far more than 150, drops you straight to the «poor» band of the first criterion.
• Repeating ideas costs marks in organisation: the «satisfactory» band mentions repeating an idea, and the «poor» band repeating the same ideas far too often. Three different ideas are better than one said three times.
• Complex structures are explicitly required for the «good» and «excellent» bands of grammatical range: conditionals, passives, relative clauses, modals…
• Spelling is only worth 0.3. The general Castile and León PAU criteria, which take off up to one mark for spelling mistakes in other subjects, don’t apply to Lengua Extranjera II, which has its own rubric.

Model composition with analysis

You’ll find worked examples of other types of writing in my other guides: an opinion essay in the Andalusia guide, a for and against essay in the Canary Islands guide, an informal email in the Madrid guide, a formal email in the Murcia guide, a narrative in the Valencian Community guide and a review in the Catalonia guide. So here’s the type that comes up most in Castile and León and isn’t covered in any of them: proposing solutions to a problem.

Topic (written for this guide): Many teenagers hardly ever read books for pleasure. How can schools and families encourage them to read more?

It is often said that teenagers no longer read for pleasure. In my opinion, this is partly true, but there are several ways in which schools and families could help to change this situation.

Firstly, schools should let students choose what they read. When teenagers are forced to read classic novels that seem boring to them, they tend to associate reading with homework. However, if they could pick books about topics they enjoy, such as sport, fantasy or mystery, they would be more likely to finish them.

Secondly, families play an important role. Parents who read at home set a good example, and visiting the local library together can easily become a habit.

To sum up, reading should be seen as a hobby rather than an obligation. If we make it more attractive, I am sure that more young people will discover how rewarding it can be.

Why it works:

• It answers exactly what’s asked: it suggests solutions from schools and from families, the two groups the topic mentions.
• It has the three parts the rubric asks for: an introduction that presents the topic and the writer’s view, two body paragraphs (one per solution) and a conclusion that sums up without repeating.
• No idea is repeated: each paragraph adds something new.
• Varied structures: passives (It is often said, are forced, should be seen), a second conditional (if they could pick…, they would be…), a first conditional (If we make…, more young people will…), relative clauses (that seem boring, Parents who read) and a gerund as subject (visiting the local library).
• Linkers that organise the text: In my opinion, Firstly, When, However, such as, Secondly, To sum up. You’ll find more in my B2 connectors.
• Precise vocabulary: for pleasure, associate… with, set a good example, rather than, rewarding.
• Neutral register, no contractions: the safest choice for an opinion composition.
• 147 words, within the range.
• It’s written to simulate a B2 level, without reaching C1, with realistic vocabulary for a student in the final year of Bachillerato.

Vocabulary for the most common topics

The topics in recent papers revolve around city life, technology, the environment and society: tourism, living in the city or the countryside, smartphones, video games, pollution, cosmetic surgery or war. Prepare vocabulary for these topics:

How to manage the 90 minutes

With a single text for almost the whole exam, the logical order is to read it carefully once and then work through it section by section. This is the split I recommend:

One tip: read the questions in sections 1 to 4 before your second reading of the text. That way you’ll know what you’re looking for and you’ll underline the sentences you’re going to need.

How it differs from other regions

If you’ve seen papers from other regions (or my guides to Madrid, Andalusia and Catalonia), these are the differences that affect you most:

Papers from other regions are useful for practising reading and writing, but bear in mind that in Castile and León the composition is shorter and reading carries much more weight. Above all, practise two things that count for a lot here: justifying with the text and finding synonyms.

Common mistakes in the Castile and León PAU English exam

• Not justifying a true or false answer, or justifying it with a sentence that doesn’t prove it: 0 marks.
• Copying the text word for word in the open questions: you lose half of each question.
• Giving only one of the ideas in an answer that has two.
• Choosing a synonym from a different part of speech: a noun for a verb, a present for a past.
• Answering the multiple choice from memory, without going back to the text.
• Writing fewer than 120 words, or far more than 150: it lowers your task achievement mark.
• Leaving out the introduction or the conclusion, or writing the whole composition as one block without paragraphs.
• Repeating the same idea in different words to reach the word count.

Frequently asked questions

When is the Castile and León PAU in 2027?

The 2027 dates haven’t been published yet. In 2026, the main sitting was on 2, 3 and 4 June and the resit on 30 June and 1 and 2 July. The English exam was on the second day, from 9:00 to 10:30. As soon as the 2027 calendar comes out, I’ll add it here.

Is there a listening in the Castile and León PAU English exam?

No. The whole exam is written: comprehension of a text (7 marks) and a composition (3 marks).

Can I choose between two papers?

No. There’s a single text with its questions, and the only thing you choose is the writing topic, from two options.

What happens if I don’t justify a true or false answer?

It scores 0 even if you got it right. The justification is compulsory and has to be a quotation from the text.

What happens if I write more than 150 words?

Going slightly over isn’t serious, but writing «far above» the word count appears in the rubric as a feature of the lowest band for task achievement. My advice is to aim for between 135 and 150 words.

Do spelling mistakes lose marks?

In English, the general deductions used in other subjects don’t apply. Spelling and punctuation are one criterion in the composition rubric, worth a maximum of 0.3. That said, expression counts in the open questions, and an answer full of mistakes will get less than those 0.5 marks.

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Good luck with the PAU and, until then, don’t forget to keep smiling! 🙂