My first recommendation is to download and do as many of the past exam papers as you can, particularly the sections on reading comprehension, synonyms, sentence transformation, pronunciation and writing tasks. These can be downloaded free of charge from the Internet. The link for those taking the exam in the Autonomous Region of Galicia is https://ciug.gal/gal/pau/exames (option 11) and for the sample 2026 paper, go to https://ciug.gal/gal/modelos-exame-pau-2026
There is no listening paper for the 2026 exam. However, there is a new gap-fill exercise, which I will try to give more information about when I find similar exercises to do. Many students also have difficulty with the pronunciation section(s). Fortunately, for those who hate pronunciation, there are going to be just four questions, whereas previously there were eight! According to the official circular for the 2026 University Entrance Examination English paper, this section may ask questions on how groups of words are pronounced and you will need to identify the pronunciation of certain morphemes that follow pronunciation rules (past simple, plural, etc.), homophones (words with different spellings that are pronounced the same way), silent letters, syllables that carry the main stress, and so on. One extremely important point to remember is that the questions are based on the British English pronunciation.
Here are the questions from the 2026 sample paper:
2.2 Answer the following questions about pronunciation. (1 point)
1. In which one of the following words is the underlined letter pronounced as the “a” in “car”? past, bathe, lack, mare, balance.
2. In which two words do we pronounce the letter ”t”? fasten, monster, hustle, listen, castle, faster.
3. In which word does the stress fall on the first syllable? connect, provoke, perish, control, devote.
4. In which of the following words is (are) the underlined letter(s) pronounced /s/? houses, cycle, reveals, ocean, diminish.
I will not give you the answers to these questions but you will be able to use online dictionaries that use the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) to check the answers and to hear the pronunciations.
My favourite one is the Cambridge Dictionary
It is always a good idea to double-check pronunciations because some dictionaries offer alternative pronunciations. My second favourite online dictionary is the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English and the other dictionary that uses the IPA is https://www.collinsdictionary.com/
One problem is that when the questions ask about how to pronounce the plural form of most nouns or the past simple or past participle of regular verbs, it is usually hard to listen to them or see them transcribed. To hear them pronounced, you could do a search in google «How do you pronounce [word]?» or if that doesn’t work, try Natural Reader. Alternatively, you can cheat and use ChatGPT. I have checked all of the past simple, past participle and third person singular verbs and plural nouns and they have all been transcribed perfectly.
As mentioned, anything could appear, so I have taken the time to look at all of the pronunciation exercises that have appeared in the «selectividad» exam to give you an idea of what to expect, from 2020 up to the most recent official paper.
2020 Main paper
3.1. Block 1. Pronunciation: (1 point; 0.25 each)
a. In which word are the underlined letters pronounced differently? word, bored, lord, sword
b. In which word is the ending «ed» pronounced /d/ as in “filed”? wanted, divided, folded, framed
c. In which word is the letter “u” silent? suite, quick, guilty, suit
d. Which pair of words does not rhyme? 1. break, cake; 2. mean, great; 3. blood, flood; 4. dear, fear.
4.1. Block 1. Pronunciation: (1 point; 0.25 each)
a. In which word is the letter “h-” pronounced? heir, honest, humble, hour
b. In which word is the stress on the first syllable as in “horoscope”? astrology, alignment, impossible, generate.
c. In which of the following verbs is the past ending pronounced /ɪd/ as in “conducted”? believed, tapped, needed, managed.
d. In which word are the underlined vowels pronounced differently? create, meaningful, read*, each. (*here we should assume that it refers to the pronunciation which corresponds with the infinitive and the present simple)
2020 Paper – Version 2: 3.1. Block 1. Pronunciation: (1 point; 0.25 each)
a. In which word is the ending “-s / -es” pronounced /ɪz/ as in “finishes”? generates, encourages, falls, leaves.
b. In which word are the underlined letters (“ch”) pronounced differently? church, character, choice, chair.
c. In which word are the consonants “th” pronounced /ϴ/ like in “thing”? thrown, though, these, weather.
d. In which word do the vowels “oo” sound the same way as in “blood”? food, flood, book, good.
2020 Paper – Version 2: 4.1. Block 1. Pronunciation: (1 point; 0.25 each)
a. Which of the following words has the same sound as the letter underlined in the word “caring”: here, where, mere, clear.
b. In which word is/are the underlined letter(s) pronounced differently? exploration, passion, division, fashion.
c. In which of the following verbs is the past ending pronounced /ɪd/? commissioned, conducted, surveyed, supposed.
d. In which word is the underlined letter pronounced like the vowel in “still”? girls, skinny, right, alive
2021 Paper – Version 1: 2.1. Block 1. Pronunciation: (0.90 points)
a. Which word has the same vowel sound as the letter underlined in the word “rude”? put, lose, bull, look
b. In which word is the underlined vowel pronounced differently from the others? black, standing, separate, African.
c. In which two words is the underlined letter pronounced /z/ as in “trees? respect, fees, abolished, consider, seamstress, pose, sort, keeps
d. In which two words are the underlined letters pronounced “i” /ɪ/ as in “pick”? pink, women, file, meet, fibre, feel, cider, peer
2021 Paper – Version 1: 4.1. Block 1. Pronunciation: (0.90 point)
a. In which word is the pronunciation of the vowel “u” different? punishment, pupils, punk, pump
b. Find in the text (Text B, below) a homophone (a word that sounds the same as another) of the word “ weather.”
(Part of Text B: The school had held an assembly to highlight the issue of the addictive nature of phones and in follow-up conversations with students it was found that the latter also had concerns.
“The question was whether removing their phones and the social media that go with them might cause students anxiety, social isolation or loneliness”, Mr. Hill, the deputy head teacher said. «We discussed it with our pupils. We’ve got a pretty open-minded group of pupils here.»)
c. In which two words does the underlined letter sound like the “sh” in “fashion”? question, conclusion, ocean, usual, casual, nation, decision, pleasure
d. In which two words do the vowels sound like the vowels in “friend”? clear, steak, steady, break, mean, ready, pear, fear
2021 Paper – Version 2: 2.1. Block 1. Pronunciation: (0.90 points)
a. Which two words have the same vowel sound as “tall”? thought, block, hour, poor, caught, cold, mother, allied
b. In which word is the underlined letter pronounced differently from the others? funny, women, money, gun.
c. In which word are the underlined letters of the plural endings pronounced /ɪz/as in “classes”? shapes, sizes, machines, apples.
d. In which two words is the letter “h” silent (not pronounced)? humour, honest, hopefully, behave, heir, hair, harm, human.
2021 Paper – Version 2 : 4.1. Block 1. Pronunciation: (0.90 point)
a. Which two words have the same vowel sound as the letter underlined in the word “while”? still, bite, take, teach, fill, cry, bit, business
b. In which word are the underlined letters pronounced differently from the others? situation, height, environment, title.
c. In which two words are the letters “th” pronounced as in “the”? thought, though, through, throw, throat, throne, those, thing
d. In which word is the underlined letter* pronounced as in “turn”*? worse*, pull, teenager, scare (*There are two letters underlined in the exam, although turn and worse would also be acceptable and not make any real difference to the actual answer)
2022 Paper – Version 1: 2.1. Block 1. Pronunciation: (0.90 points)
a. In which word is the underlined vowel pronounced differently? Asia, pharmacist, vegetable, character
b. Which word has the stress on the second syllable? expert, veritably, create, promise
c. In which two words are the underlined letters pronounced like the “u” in “put”? food, move, foot, spook, bosom, boot, mood, fool
d. In which two words is the letter “s” pronounced /s/ as in “past? windows, rose, laughs, bees, horse, lose, is, blues, eggs
2022 Paper – Version 1: 4.1. Block 1. Pronunciation: (0.90 point)
a. In which two words is the letter “l” mute (not pronounced)? actual, Paul, owl, calm, digital, special, walk, travel
b. Which pair of words does not rhyme? tree ‐ tea, phone ‐ blown, kite ‐ kit, blood ‐ mud
c. In which two words is the ending «‐ed» pronounced /d/ as in “loved”? asked, helped, waited, smiled, arrived, looked, relaxed, missed
d. In which word does the underlined vowel sound like the “a” in “cat”*? part, ankle, bath, fall. (*Remember that the exam focuses on the British English pronunciation, not the American English one)
2022 Paper – Version 2: 2.1. Block 1. Pronunciation: (0.90 points)
a. In which two words is the underlined letter “b” silent, as in “climb”? double, doubt, absorb, abominable, obsolete, plumber, combine, bored
b. In which two words are the underlined consonants pronounced like the “sh” in “ship”? child, pressure, manageable (the «g» is underlined but is difficult to see!), trajectory (the «j» is underlined but is difficult to see!), international, region (the «g» is underlined but is difficult to see!), casual
c. Which pair does not rhyme? hut ‐ put; shop ‐ swap; trees ‐ please; short‐ port
d. In which word are the consonants “ch” pronounced like in “chore”? choir, stomach, cheerful, character
2022 Paper – Version 2: 4.1. Block 1. Pronunciation: (0.90 point)
a. Which word has a different number of syllables*? complete, teacher, chocolate, following (*Think about how many syllables each word has when spoken naturally. Three of the words can sound similar in syllable count, but one will always differ. Which word always has a different number of syllables?)
b. In which two words is the ending «ed» pronounced /t/ as in “looked”? helped, studied, visited, enjoyed, cooked, learned*(the verb, not the adjective), listened, hesitated
c. In which word is the letter “h” silent (not pronounced)? harm, honest, honey, heaven
d. In which two words are the underlined vowels pronounced differently from the vowels in near? year, pear, fear, ear, clear, bear, beer, idea
2023 Paper – Version 1: 1.2.2. Pronunciation (0.50 points)
a. In which word are the underlined letters pronounced differently? beast, breath, head, healthcare
b. In which two words is the stress on the first syllable, as in “Germany”? research, graduate, attraction, impressed, machine, result, regions, amount (This question is flawed because «research» has different stress for the verb and for the noun. Imagine that «research» refers to the verb.)
c. In which word is the ending “-ed” pronounced /d/ as in “supplied”? trapped, showed, accumulated, washed
d. Which pair of words does not rhyme? crane-pain, beer-bear, flash-crash, love-glove.
2023 Paper – Version 1: 3.1.2. Pronunciation: (0.5 points)
a. In which word is the underlined letter NOT silent? wrong , whole, wrist, answer, whistle
b. In which word is the “th” group pronounced as in “thing”? thorough, rather, though, breathe
c. Can you provide a homophone (a word that sounds the same as another) of the word “reign”?
d. Which two words have a diphthong as in “like”? prince, written, knife, since, pill, brief, science, link (Technically speaking, one of these two words is considered a triphthong [with three vowel sounds], but the diphthong is pronounced in a separate syllable)
2023 Paper – Version 2: 1.2.2. Pronunciation (0.50 points)
a. In which word are the underlined letters pronounced differently? field, feel, fill, feast
b. In which two words is the ending «ed» pronounced /t / as in «asked»? played, carried, discovered, kissed, counted, performed, targeted, placed
c. In which word is the letter «g» silent (not pronounced)? guitar, sign, signature, egg
d. Which pair of words does not rhyme? drove-hole, post-lost, were-shirt, bowl-coast. (This question is difficult but the vowel sounds in three of the word pairs match one another, whereas in one word pair, the vowel sounds are clearly different.)
2023 Paper – Version 2: : 3.1.2. Pronunciation: (0.5 points)
a. In which word is the pronunciation of “ay” different? rays, says, plays, stays.
b. In which word are the letters “ch” pronounced differently? child, choice, machine, charge.
c. In which two words do the underlined letters* sound like the “th” in “this”? feather, mouth, sympathetic, south, earth, worth, breathe, teeth. (*The letters were not underlined in the exam!)
d. In which word is the letter “w” silent (not pronounced)? weather, wing, white, wrist.
2024 Paper – Version 1: 1.4. Pronunciation. (0.5 points)
a. In which word is the plural ending pronounced the same as in “boxes”? clocks, pages, mugs, shoes.
b. In which word is the ending «-ed» pronounced the same as in “smiled”? talked, needed, touched, remembered.
c. In which word is the letter «u» pronounced the same as in “cut”? pull, push, huge, hug.
d. In which two words are the underlined vowels pronounced differently from the vowels in “year”? fear, appear, earth, idea, volunteers, wear, near, weird.
2024 Paper – Version 1: 3.2. Pronunciation. (0.5 points)
a. In which word are the letters «ea» pronounced the same as in “bear”? lead*, meal, pear, fear. (*This is not the best example because it is an example of a homograph, a word with two different meanings and two different pronunciations. Imagine that it refers to the verb pronunciation).
b. Which of the following words has the same vowel sound as the vowel in “church”? cute, bench, third, park.
c. Write a homophone (a word that sounds the same as another one but is spelled differently) for each of these words: “wood”, “weather”.
d. In which word is the plural ending “-es” pronounced as in “stages”? grapes, brushes, tiles, wolves.
2024 Paper – Version 2: 1.4. Pronunciation. (0.5 points)
a. Which pair of words does not rhyme? wit – white, play – stay, reign – rain, piece – peace.
b. In which word are the letters «ch» pronounced differently? charge, punch, choice, machine.
c. In which two words do the underlined letters sound like the «th» in “that”? healthy, mother, path, thanks, tooth, thorough, though, thought.
d. In which word is the letter «l» pronounced? calm, could, half, climb.
2024 Paper – Version 2: 3.2. Pronunciation. (0.5 points)
a. In which word does the stress fall on the first syllable? calendar, photography, astonished, July.
b. In which two words is the ending «-ed» pronounced /d/ as in «earned»? decided, asked, answered, called, kissed, watched, invited, vexed.
c. In which word do the underlined vowels sound like the vowel in bird? hurt, heart, head, hard.
d. Which pair of words rhymes? sheep – ship, sit – seat, worm – term, cold – call.
2025 (only one section and one version of the paper available on the website): 2.2. Answer the following questions about pronunciation. (1 point)
1. In which two words is the final «-ed» pronounced as in “worked”? feared, tasted, stopped, climbed, ranked, humbled, played, evolved.
2. In which word is the underlined vowel pronounced like the «e» in “equal”? enter, even, elbow, exit.
3. In which word do(es) the underlined letter(s) have the same sound as the «o» in “focus”? along, reboot, moment, joyful.
4. In which word is the letter «g» pronounced the same as in “gender”? ghost, guidance, manage, finger.
5. Which word contains the same vowel sound as the underlined vowel in “Republic”? focus, ambiguous, multiple, ensure.
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