GCSE Spanish
GCSE Spanish is almost entirely a literacy qualification: learners listen to and read Spanish, answer in English or Welsh, translate into English or Welsh, write in Spanish about a studied work and to a stimulus, and speak for 7 to 10 minutes, with 20.5% of marks for grammar, vocabulary and sound-spelling accuracy and no dictionary in any unit. Numeracy is light and incidental: numbers 1 to 100, simple fractions, the 12 and 24 hour clock, dates, and graphs among the reading texts. The biggest thing Key Stage 3 should build is secure, dictionary-free recall of core vocabulary and grammar, used every week in short translations and independent writing and speaking.
- First taught
- September 2025
- Amount of literacy work
- High
- Amount of numeracy work
- Low
- Specification
- Open the WJEC specification (PDF)
How this GCSE is assessed
- Unit 1: Oracy: Non-examination assessment, speaking test 7 to 10 minutes plus 10 minutes preparation, 60 marks, 30%
- Unit 2: Reading and Writing: Non-examination assessment 1 hour, 45 marks, 15%
- Unit 3: Listening: Written examination 45 minutes including 5 minutes reading time, 45 marks, 20%
- Unit 4: Reading and Writing: Written examination 1 hour 30 minutes, 70 marks, 35%
Skills that use Strategic competence
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Telling the time, dates and timetables
Learners must know the 12 hour and 24 hour clock in Spanish, and the days of the week, seasons and months. These appear in announcements, role plays at stations and venues, and reading texts such as notices and flyers.
Numeracy: Measurement, Conceptual understanding, Strategic competence
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils say and write the date in Spanish at the start of each lesson and match spoken Spanish clock times to analogue clock faces.
- Year 8
- Pupils read a Spanish cinema listing in 24 hour times and work out which film they could reach after school, giving the answer in a Spanish sentence.
- Year 9
- Pupils listen to Spanish station announcements, note departure times and platforms, and calculate the wait between two connecting trains.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Appendix B, Everyday language, Telling the time, page 37
“Learners should know both the 12 hour and 24 hour clock.”
Progression step 3
I can read and use analogue and digital clocks.
I can use and interpret calendars, timetables and schedules to plan events and activities, and make calculations as part of the planning journey.
Progression step 4
I can use timetables and time zones to calculate travel time.
I can interpret answers within the context of the problem and consider whether answers, including calculator, analogue and digital displays, are sensible.
Progression step 5
I can interpret answers within the context of the problem and consider whether answers, including calculator, analogue and digital displays, are sensible.
I can identify, measure or obtain required information to complete the task.
Good to know
- Dictionaries are banned in every unit: "Learners are not permitted to use a dictionary in any part of the assessment." (Summary of assessment, page 4).
- Unit 1 oracy allows only the learner's own notes: "or any other reference materials excluding the learner's own notes." (Section 3.2, Unit 1, page 21). Presentation preparation is time-limited: "The preparation period for the presentation may begin two weeks prior to the first timetabled assessment." (page 21).
- Unit 2 reading and writing NEA allows no reference materials at all: "Learners are not permitted to use dictionaries in any part of the assessment, or any other reference materials." (Section 3.2, Unit 2, page 21).
- Accuracy of language is assessed directly through AO3, "Demonstrate knowledge of grammar, vocabulary and sound-spelling correspondence.", weighted 8% in Unit 1, 5% in Unit 2 and 7.5% in Unit 4, 20.5% overall (Section 3.1, page 20). There is no separate SPaG mark for English or Welsh answers.
- Productive vocabulary is tied to the Appendix B lists: "Equal but no additional credit will be given for learners who use vocabulary outside the specified list in productive tasks." (Section 2, page 9).
- Unit 3 and Unit 4 questions are answered in English or Welsh, so learners' English or Welsh must be clear enough to show understanding: "respond to a range of questions in Cymraeg/English." (Unit 3, page 16).
- Unit 3 includes reading time before listening: "Written examination: 45 minutes (including 5 minutes' reading time)" (Unit 3, page 15).
- Number knowledge is limited to a stated range: learners "are expected to know the numbers" 1 to 100 (Appendix B, Numbers, page 40). The spec sets no calculation, mentions no calculator, and states no word limits for the writing tasks or whether responses are handwritten or typed.
Links with other GCSEs
WJEC's Appendix C ticks literacy listening for Units 1 and 3, reading and writing for Units 2 and 4, and speaking for Unit 1 (page 93), and ticks only the number system strand of numeracy, for all four units (page 94).
Source: WJEC GCSE Spanish specification, Teaching from 2025, For award from 2027 (no version number printed).