The purpose of this paper is to study how the teaching of grammar of verbs (verb tenses) is represented in the textbooks, national curriculum and national assessment tools within the subject of Spanish as a second language in 7—9^th grade of Swedish secondary school.

It is a qualitative exploratory survey covering most of the textbooks available on the Swedish market and, all the national exams and assessment materials available through the Swedish department of education, as well as the national curriculum. There is also a comparison to the DELE tests and syllabus from the Spanish Instituto Cervantes as well as the CEFR.

Although the CEFR guidelines are used by the Swedish Department of Education, textbook authors, and the DELE, the results show that the CEFR’s aim to reduce the differences between countries in language learning, and create a more equal assessment, is not obtained. There is still quite a disparity between a CEFR A2 level grammar requirement of the DELE, Swedish national assessment material, and the Swedish course literature. DELE has imperfect and preterit verb tenses in the exam, while the Swedish exam does not. The course literature varies greatly whether imperfect or preterit is included. In reality, the study opened up for more questions. In conclusion, the selection of what to teach is left to the professionalism of the educator.