Careers related to studying Spanish:

If you choose to study a language A-level, you will develop comprehensive written and spoken communication skills in the target language.

As a result, students who have studied a language A-level have a vast array of career opportunities open to them, ranging from translating and interpreting to teaching or, most commonly, working with well-known multinational companies to and international organisations or charities. There are exciting opportunities – often involving travel abroad – in almost every sector, including: manufacturing, sales, banking and finance, community and social services, and transport and communications.  

Course content:

Through studying this course, you will develop your ability to analyse and evaluate, clearly structure arguments and make reasoned judgements, all of which are essential at university. The course involves an integrated study with a focus on language, culture, society, cinema and literature.

Entry requirements:

You must have achieved at least a grade 6 in Spanish at GCSE.

Subject specific events:

You will be encouraged to take part in a range of enrichment activities, which can be accredited through the Foreign Language Leaders Award.

Students will have the opportunity to visit universities in the region, to take park in enrichment activities such as sample lectures and seminars in Spanish and workshops on literature and music, which are tailored towards enhancing the A Level curriculum. They also offer the opportunity to meet student ambassadors and attend taster sessions in other languages, such as Italian and German.

Methods of study:

There are four lessons per week, which are delivered by three subject specialists. In addition, you will have sessions with our Foreign Language Assistant to help improve your confidence and proficiency in speaking the target language. Teaching groups tend to be small, enabling highly personalised leaning, and the course is taught through a range of teaching and learning strategies. These strategies include group discussion, close reading and annotation of texts and the use of authentic audio/visual stimuli.

You should expect to complete approximately four hours of independent study outside of your lessons. This could include: listening and reading the target language, practising grammatical concepts, completing translations and essays or simply speaking in the target language.  In order for you to take full advantage of the course, it is recommended that you immerse yourself fully in the target language in topics which interest, inspire or intrigue you, which are available at the click of a button.

Methods of assessment:

Paper 1: Listening, reading and writing (50%)

You will be assessed on your listening and reading comprehension (including summaries in the target language) and translation skills into the target language and English. Exam time: 2.5 hours.

Paper 2: Writing (20%)

You will be assessed on your response to two essay questions (300 words each) on a film and book studied in class. Exam time: 2 hours.

Paper 3: Speaking (30%)

You will be assessed on a 5 minute discussion of a stimulus card and a presentation and discussion of Individual Research Project (linked to the target language country). As we are a smaller sixth form this exam will be conducted by your teacher, rather than an external examiner. Exam time: 21-23 minutes.