Students who advance to this course have a good foundation and can communicate their ideas by speaking or writing and understanding verbal and written language. They are prepared to have many lessons in the Target Language. The emphasis is on learning, understanding and being able to explain the political, cultural, sociological and historical aspects of the Target Language countries. Students will be able to advance to mastery of the language. Students will be able to spontaneously express relevant ideas about the societies of the Target Language. Students will also have engaged on formal research of a relevant area of the Target Language countries and share their findings following guidance on formal oral-presentation academic protocols. Students will also watch a relevant film and read an influential literary work. They will learn to write meaningful analysis of these works.

Year 12 curriculum map | Year 13 curriculum map

Entry requirements

You will need at least a 5 in Spanish at GCSE.

Overview

The A level course is designed to provide you with an extensive knowledge of Spanish society and culture as well as enhancing your ability in the Spanish language. It will enable you to understand and communicate in a variety of contexts and to a range of audiences and will allow students to develop an advanced level of knowledge and understanding of language and culture. The A level qualification will also help to prepare students for higher education.

  • Paper 1 (40%): This paper involves listening, reading and translation into English. It draws on vocabulary and structures across all themes studied. Students will be required to respond appropriately to texts and listening passages from a variety of sources and contexts.
  • Paper 2 (30%): This paper involves another translation element, and two essays on either two literary texts, or one literary text and one film. The literary texts range from classic and contemporary novels to short stories and plays. The films studied are feature length.
  • Paper 3 (30%): This paper is the spoken element of the A level qualification. Students will be asked to complete two tasks; a discussion on a theme from the specification, and a presentation and discussion of independent research. Students will be assessed on their ability to interact and communicate effectively, and on their ability to summarise and analyse sources relating to their research subject.

The future

Having an AS or A level in Spanish will greatly increase your employability and enhance your social interaction. You can continue to use and further develop your language skills by taking a language degree course, or a degree course with a language element, such as a BA in European Studies, a BSc in Computing Science with Spanish or a BA in Media Studies with Spanish.