“With languages, you are at home anywhere.” ― Edward De Waal

Language skills are an important part of every area of the curriculum and take you far beyond the classroom, in terms of your global potential. Languages open doors and give you an edge over others.

Course content and assessment criteria

· Three papers covering:   

· Aspects of Hispanic society 

· Artistic culture in the Hispanic world 

· Multiculturalism in Hispanic society 

· Aspects of polical life in Hispanic society 

· Grammar 

Paper 1: Listening, reading and writing 

Written exam: 2 hours 30 minutes 

100 marks 

50% of A level 

Questions 

· Listening and responding to spoken passages from a range of contexts and sources covering different registers and adapted as necessary. Material will include complex factual and abstract content and questions will target main points, gist and detail. Studio recordings will be used and students will have individual control of the recording.  All questions are in Spanish, to be answered with non-verbal responses or in Spanish (30 marks) 

· Reading and responding to a variety of texts written for different purposes, drawn from a range of authentic sources and adapted as necessary. Material will include complex factual and abstract content and questions will target main points, gist and detail.  All questions are in Spanish, to be answered with non-verbal responses or in Spanish (50 marks) 

· Translation into English; a passage of minimum 100 words (10 marks) 

· Translation into Spanish; a passage of minimum 100 words (10 marks).  No access to a dictionary during the assessment. 

Paper 2: Writing 

One text and one film or two texts from the list set in the specification. 

Written exam: 2 hours 

80 marks in total 

20% of A Level 

Grammar 

Questions 

· Either one question in Spanish on a set text from a choice of two questions and one question in Spanish on a set film from a choice of two questions or two questions in Spanish on set texts from a choice of two questions on each text. 

· All questions will require a critical appreciation of the concepts and issues covered in the work and a critical and analytical response to features such as the form and the technique of presentation, as appropriate to the work studied (eg the effect of narrative voice in a prose text or camera work in a film). 

No access to texts or films during the assessment.  No access to a dictionary during the assessment. Students are advised to write approximately 300 words per essay. 

Paper 3: Speaking 

· Individual research project 

· One of four themes (i.e. Aspects of Hispanic Society or Artistic culture in the Hispanic world or Multiculturalism in Hispanic society or Aspects of political life in Hispanic society). 

Oral exam: 21-23 minutes (including 5 minutes preparation time) 

60 marks in total 

30% of A level 

Questions 

Discussion of a sub-theme with the discussion based on a stimulus card (5–6 minutes). The student studies the card for 5 minutes at the start of the test (25 marks). 

Presentation (2 minutes) and discussion (9–10 minutes) of individual research project (35 marks). 

No access to a dictionary during the assessment (including 5 minutes preparation). Students may take the assessment only once before certification. Assessments will be conducted by either the centre or a visiting examiner and marked by an AQA examiner. 

Head of Subject:

Ms K de Groot

Exam Board: AQA

Entry Requirements:

6 in Spanish

Are you interested in?

Doing something that gives you the most flexibility for future employment, engenders versatility and opens up the possibilities of working abroad? 

Leading to a career in:

literally any sphere you would like;  Diplomat, Foreign Office, Advertising, Broadcasting, Marketing, Film, Cosmetics (Chanel, Lancôme etc), Engineering, Publishing, Journalism, Media, PR 

With a language, you are opening up doors to work globally in all these fields. 

This subject goes well with:

Literally anything!