Catalonia PAU Italian (Italià) exam-day guide
Catalonia PAU Italian (Italià) · Prepare for the day ahead.
Your checklist
Official photo ID (DNI, passport, or NIE card)
Bring the original document, not a photocopy. The tribunal checks identity against the enrolment record before the exam starts. If your enrolment data and your ID do not match, sort it out with the secretaria of your centre well before the day; the exact tolerance for mismatches is set by the administering body, so confirm with the provider if you are unsure.
Exam venue and session confirmation
Confirm the building, room, and call time through your centre or the official PAU portal for your region. Do not rely on memory or on what a classmate says. Arrive with margin: access to the room usually closes once the exam has begun, and late entry rules are set by the tribunal, so confirm with the provider if you have doubts.
Printed or downloaded exam timetable for your sitting
The PAU is spread over several days with different starting times per subject. Keep the official timetable on your phone and on paper, and double-check the date and time of the Italian paper, since clashes and room changes are communicated by the centre.
Blue or black ballpoint pens (at least two)
Write in ink, not pencil, for the answers that count. Bring a spare because a single failing pen in a two-hour paper is a real risk. Pencil is normally acceptable only for rough notes or multiple-choice marking, and the exact rule is set by the tribunal, so confirm with the provider.
Pencil, eraser, and a small sharpener
Useful for drafting answers and for any multiple-choice section. Keep them in a clear case so the invigilator can see them quickly at the start.
Clear water bottle with the label removed
Many venues allow water if the label is off and the bottle is transparent. This varies by centre, so confirm with the provider or your school before relying on it.
Wristwatch (not a smartwatch)
Exam rooms do not always have a visible clock, and phones must be off and stored away. A plain analogue or digital watch lets you manage the reading, writing, and review phases without touching your phone.
No phone, smartwatch, or earbuds at your table
Switch devices off and leave them in the bag or in the place the invigilator indicates. A device that rings or is found on your person during the exam can lead to annulment of your paper; the exact sanction is set by the regulations, so confirm with the provider.
Your own dictionary policy checked in advance
Whether a monolingual or bilingual dictionary is permitted in the Italian paper is decided by the exam regulations for your region and year, and it has changed over time. Do not assume either way: confirm with the provider or your teacher, and if it is allowed, bring a clean copy with no annotations.
A one-page personal summary of text types and connectors
Prepare a sheet in your own words covering the structure of a formal letter, an opinion piece, and a short article, plus connectors for contrast, cause, and concession. Review it in the final days; leave it at home on exam day unless your centre explicitly allows notes.
Transport plan and backup
Check strikes, roadworks, and the first available train or bus. Have a second route in mind and the phone number of someone who can drive you if needed. Being late is the most avoidable way to lose marks.
Snack and water for between papers
If you have two sittings on the same day, bring something small to eat outside the exam room. Breaks between papers are short and canteens may be closed; confirm the schedule with your centre.
Plan the day
Do a full timed mock of the Italian paper under real conditions: reading, comprehension questions, and the written production, all in the official duration. Mark it yourself against the answer key or with your teacher, and list the three error types that cost you most marks. From now on, revise only those three, not the whole syllabus.
Re-read the official instructions for your region's Italian paper so you know the exact task types, the number of options in the written section, and whether there is a listening or oral component. Confirm the dictionary rule with your teacher. Write the confirmed format on the same sheet as your error list.
Prepare and rehearse your written-production templates: an opening and closing for a formal letter, a thesis-plus-two-arguments structure for an opinion piece, and a headline-plus-summary structure for an article. Practise each once with a fresh prompt so the template is automatic rather than memorised word for word.
Do a targeted grammar sweep on the points that most often appear in Italian production tasks: passato prossimo versus imperfetto, subjunctive after opinion verbs and conjunctions, pronoun placement with modal verbs, and agreement of past participles with direct-object pronouns. Do twenty short transformation items, then stop.
Review a compact list of connectors and discourse markers and use at least eight of them in one short written text. Examiners reward coherent organisation, and connectors are the cheapest way to show it.
Do a light review only: read your one-page summary, your error list, and your templates aloud once. No new mock exams and no new grammar topics. Stop studying by early evening.
Pack the bag: ID, pens, pencil, eraser, sharpener, watch, water bottle, printed timetable, and the dictionary only if confirmed as allowed. Lay out clothes and check the transport route and departure time. Set two alarms.
Eat a normal dinner, avoid heavy caffeine after midday, and sleep at your usual time. Sleep is worth more than one extra hour of vocabulary review.
Eat a proper breakfast, check the room and call time once more, and leave earlier than the journey requires. Read your one-page summary for fifteen minutes maximum, then put it away so working memory is free for the paper.
Read the whole paper before writing. Identify which written-production option you will attempt and note the mark allocation per section. Budget your time in writing on the answer sheet margin: for example, reading and comprehension, then production, then review.
Read the comprehension text twice: once for gist, once with the questions in mind. Underline the sentence that supports each answer. Answer in the language and format the question demands, and keep answers concise; long paraphrases introduce errors.
Spend two or three minutes planning the text with bullet points, then write. Respect the word limit and the required register. Leave a clear line between paragraphs and write legibly; an illegible answer cannot be marked fairly.
Reserve time to check agreement, verb tenses, accents, and double consonants, and to verify that you have answered every question and filled in the header correctly. Cross out drafts with a single line rather than scribbling them out.
Rules to check
Bring the original photo ID used at enrolment and place it on the table when asked. If your name or document number differs from the enrolment record, raise it before the exam begins; the procedure for resolving it is set by the administering body, so confirm with the provider.
Follow the invigilator's instructions on start and finish times, on filling in the answer sheet header, and on what may stay on the desk. Ask before the exam starts rather than during it.
Phones and smartwatches must be switched off and out of reach. Using or merely having an unauthorised device or unauthorised notes during the exam can lead to annulment of the paper; the exact sanction is set by the regulations, so confirm with the provider.
Do not communicate with other candidates once the paper has been distributed, and do not look at another candidate's work. Raise your hand and wait for the invigilator if you need anything.
If you must leave the room, do so only with permission and accompanied as the venue requires. Time lost is not usually added back, and leaving during the final minutes may not be allowed, so confirm with the provider.
Write in the language and format each task requires, respect word limits, and answer every part. Marks are awarded per task and per criterion, and an unanswered section scores zero regardless of the quality of the rest.
Dictionary and reference-material rules differ by region and year. Bring only what the current regulations explicitly allow, and if you are unsure, confirm with the provider rather than risk a sanction.
Scoring and appeals: results are published through the official channel for your region, and there is a defined window for review or appeal of your marks. Check the dates and procedure with your centre as soon as results are out.