Spanish

Why choose Spanish?

Apart from being beneficial at a personal level, your A Level in Languages can help with quite a few career paths. For those who want to specialise in language, there’s translation or teaching. Or maybe you want to work in the travel and tourism industry. But even as, say, an engineer or designer, being proficient in a language will give you broader career options.

What does it entail?

Throughout the course you will study a variety of themes. You will develop your understanding of themes relating to the society and culture of countries where Spanish is spoken and is a focus on how Spanish society has been shaped, socially and culturally, and how it continues to change.

Over the two years, we also study a book and a film which will be used as a focus for the writing exam.

You will also conduct a research project on a subject or key question which interests you and which is relevant to a Spanish speaking country. The aim of this is to develop your research skills and analyse and summarise your findings to present and discuss them in the speaking assessment.

How is it assessed?

The course is assessed at the end of Y13 with 3 different papers:

Paper 1: Listening, reading and writing

This involves an exam of 2hr30 on the themes and grammar we will have studied, as well as a translation of around 70 words and is worth 50% of your grade.

Paper 2: Writing

This involves writing two essays in Spanish about our chosen film and book. The essay will be around 300 words and the exam will last 2 hours. This is worth 20%.

Paper 3: Speaking

This will involve a discussion across a theme we have studied across the two years as well as a presentation and discussion on your individual research project.