If you took Spanish 5 in high school and did relatively well, you should be good to go. I was able to validate through 221 even though admittedly I fell asleep during the last 10 or so minutes of the test. For 2023, we took the test in one of the lectinars after eating lunch and everyone was very exhausted and since cadre were not there, sleeping was not punishable (except for the fact that it behooves you to try and do well so you can validate). In essence, I know lots of kids that didn't try and regretted it later. It is super helpful to validate the 100s level language classes because if you don't, you will be taking a language class EVERY DAY for 2 semesters!
As for the format of the test, it was a combination of listening, grammar, reading...all multiple choice. The format could change from year to year though. Hope that helps! And good luck