What does GCSE Spanish involve?  

Preparing to take the British GCSE Spanish? First of all, make sure you understand what you need to cover. 

Here’s an outline from the AQA syllabus, one of the main exam boards, but other boards follow a similar pattern.    

GCSE Spanish covers the four disciplines of listening, reading, writing and speaking. You need to show proficiency in each area to do well. Within that framework, there are two tiers - the Foundation Tier (grades 1–5) and the Higher Tier (grades 4–9). Once you’ve decided on the tier you’re going to follow, you must take all four question papers at the same level, in the same series.

The syllabus covers three main themes across all four question papers:

• Identity and culture   

• Local, national, international and global areas of interest 

• Current and future study and employment 

You’ll need to understand and provide information and opinions on any of these themes. Progress with Lawless Spanish's reading and listening comprehension exercises cover many of these topics so are worth including in your GCSE Spanish revision.

2023 Update: In 2022, GCSE students were given advance information on topics that would be covered in the exams due to the pandemic. It's been announced that there will be no advanced information in 2023.

When is the Spanish GCSE exam taken?

In 2023, Spanish GCSE exams (as the rest of the GCSE exams) will reportedly begin on May 15 and end on June 21.

The precise dates, however, could change based on your exam board and subjects. We highly recommend you confirm the exact dates of your Spanish GCSE exams with your school or exam board in advance, so you can prep accordingly.

GCSE Spanish Listening 

The listening exam assesses how well you understand and respond to spoken Spanish, used for different purposes. It’s worth 25% of your overall grade. 

• Foundation level - 35 minutes - 40 marks available

• Higher level - 45 minutes - 50 marks available.

The first section asks questions in English, which have to be answered in English too. The second part asks questions in Spanish, which have to be answered in Spanish.

Tips    

Train your ear to get used to the speed Spanish is spoken at in real life. Listen to Spanish radio, or podcasts and watch Spanish T.V. and films. Anything that gets you used to the intonation, speed and rhythm of the language. Also make sure you familiarise yourself with the Spanish spoken in different Latin American countries.

We’ve summed up some of the different ways you can use music to help you improve our Spanish. Not only is it good for helping your pronunciation but it’s also been proven to help recall - and it makes the whole experience a bit of fun, into the bargain!              

It’s key to learn as much vocabulary as you can on all the themes in the syllabus from topics such as food and eating out to the environment or elections. Think about what words and phrases may come up so you’re more likely to pick up on them in the actual GCSE Spanish exam. Listen out particularly for any numbers as they can be quite tricky. 

Here’s a handy list of what topics could be tested at each level.

Practice  

We have a great selection of dictation exercises and audio articles so you can practise your listening skills as much as you need. Choose those at A2 level for GCSE Foundation level and B1 for Higher.  

 

All the exercises marked free are free for registered users and the rest are available with any of our Premium plans.

Take a look at the following articles which tie in with the GCSE themes;

• Identity/Culture - An entertaining week
• Areas of interest - The Delights of the Basque City of Bilbao
• Employment/Study - How to write a formal email

 

They are all designed to help you with particular aspects of grammar.

GCSE Spanish Reading

The reading paper is a written exam designed to test your ability to understand an Reading d respond to different types of language.

• Foundation level - 45 minutes  

• Higher level - 1 hour 

The total number of marks available is 60 and it contributes to 25% of your overall grade. 

The first section asks questions in English, which should be answered in English, while the second section asks questions in Spanish, to be answered in Spanish. The third section is a translation from Spanish to English. 

Tips 

In the exam, go right through the whole passage to get the general meaning, before you look at the questions. It’s always easier to understand what you’re being asked, if you know the context. 

Revise your grammar so that you recognise which tenses are being used in the questions and learn as much topic-specific vocabulary as possible.

Practice

The best way to prepare for the reading section is simply to read as much as possible. Cover a wide variety of topics in whatever format you can find - newspapers, magazines, books. 

We have a wide range of Spanish articles and transcripts to help you practise your reading:

• A2 Lower intermediate Spanish reading exercises for Foundation level GCSE 

• B1 Intermediate Spanish reading exercises for Higher level GCSE      

Take a look at just a few:

• Culture - Spanish superstitions  

• Places of interest - Discover the incredible works of the architect Antoni Gaudi 

• Employment/study - A look at the virtual classroom 

They’re a great way to practise your reading comprehension. Read the Spanish first then click on any phrase to see the English translation with the related grammar points.

There are more exercises available to help your reading with one of our education partners - see A2 reading comprehension. Or try and read a Spanish newspaper online, such as El Pais. Don’t worry if you don’t understand all the words. It will get easier the more you do it and the context will give you some of the meaning. Children’s books or sites with simple language are also a good source of reading material.