CURRICULUM SUBJECT

Spanish

Spanish is the 3rd most widely spoken language in the world with a rich and diverse history. Learning Spanish opens up myriad opportunities both in terms of employment and in terms of ones capacity to travel the globe and learn about other cultures. Global businesses need employees who can communicate in Spanish so that they are more able to compete and communicate effectively, and the highest earning roles often require another language.

The Spanish course will develop your language skills, your cultural and international understanding and your analytical and research skills. Plus, top universities in the UK and around the world look for candidates to have a language (Ancient or Modern) at GCSE level, so it is a fantastic way to open opportunities in the future and ensure you keep the door open to successful higher education.

GCSE Spanish

You will improve all the four language skills of listening, speaking, reading, writing and translation. The specification covers three distinct themes. These themes apply to all four question papers. Pupils are expected to understand and provide information and opinions about these themes relating to their own experiences and those of other people, including people in countries/communities where Spanish is spoken.

The three themes: People and Lifestyle, Popular Culture and Communication and the World Around Us

Paper 1: Listening (25%) Written exam, testing students ability to understand spoken Spanish. The exam consists of a mixture multiple choice questions and short-form comprehension questions, in response to listening to a tape of Spanish conversations between various voices.

Foundation Tier and Higher Tier

  • Section A – questions in English, to be answered in English or non-verbally
  • Section B – questions in Spanish, to be answered in Spanish or non-verbally
Paper 2: Speaking (25%) Testing students’ ability to understand and speak Spanish, while holding a  conversation.

Foundation Tier and Higher Tier

The format is the same at Foundation Tier and Higher Tier, but with different stimulus questions for the Photo card and different stimulus materials for the Role-play. The timings are different too:

  • Role-play – 15 marks (2 minutes at Foundation Tier; 2 minutes at Higher Tier)
  • Photo card – 15 marks (2 minutes at Foundation Tier; 3 minutes at Higher Tier)
  • General conversation – 30 marks (3–5 minutes at Foundation Tier; 5–7 minutes at Higher Tier)
Paper 3: Reading (25%) Testing students’ ability to comprehend passages of written Spanish, in the form of news articles, letters and much more.

Foundation Tier and Higher Tier

  • Section A – questions in English, to be answered in English or non-verbally
  • Section B – questions in Spanish, to be answered in Spanish or non-verbally
  • Section C – translation from Spanish into English (a minimum of 35 words at Foundation Tier and 50 words at Higher Tier)
Paper 4: Writing (25%) Testing students ability to write accurate Spanish for a variety of purposes (e.g., formal, informal, dramatic, etc.)

Questions

Foundation Tier

  • Question 1 – message (student produces four sentences in response to a photo) – 8 marks
  • Question 2 – short passage (student writes a piece of continuous text in response to four brief bullet points, approximately 40 words in total) – 16 marks
  • Question 3 – translation from English into Spanish (minimum 35 words) – 10 marks
  • Question 4 – structured writing task (student responds to four compulsory detailed bullet points, producing approximately 90 words in total) – there is a choice from two questions – 16 marks

Higher Tier

  • Question 1 – structured writing task (student responds to four compulsory detailed bullet points, producing approximately 90 words in total) – there is a choice from two questions – 16 marks
  • Question 2 – open-ended writing task (student responds to two compulsory detailed bullet points, producing approximately 150 words in total) – there is a choice from two questions – 32 marks
  • Question 3 – translation from English into Spanish (minimum 50 words) – 12 marks

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