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.
- Awarding body
- WJEC
- Level
- Level 1 and Level 2
- First taught
- September 2025
- Amount of literacy work
- High
- Amount of numeracy work
- Low
- Specification
- Open the specification
How this qualification 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 Proofreading, editing and improving
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Planning, redrafting and delivering a presentation
Learners prepare a presentation in Spanish on their own interest in advance, then take part in an unprepared discussion about it. Only their own notes are allowed in the room, so they must plan, redraft and reduce their talk to brief notes.
Literacy: Planning and organising for different purposes, audiences and context, Proofreading, editing and improving, Purpose, Questioning, Clarity and vocabulary
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils plan a 30-second Spanish talk about a hobby on a cue card of five key words, then give it from the card rather than a script.
- Year 8
- Pupils draft a one-minute Spanish presentation on a favourite film or sport, redraft it after peer feedback on tenses and opinions, and predict three questions they might be asked.
- Year 9
- Pupils prepare a Spanish presentation on a personal interest, cut it down to brief notes, deliver it, and then answer two unprepared follow-up questions in Spanish.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit 1 Oracy, Areas of content, page 12
“give a presentation, prepared in advance, based on their own interest and take part in a short unprepared discussion relating to the presentation”
Progression step 3
I can explore different ways to plan, draft and present my work appropriately.
I can reflect on, edit and redraft to improve the quality of my expression, and use a range of strategies to ensure greater clarity.
I can organise talk so that different audiences in different contexts can follow what is being said, including using formal language.
Progression step 4
I can select and use appropriate strategies to plan and develop my writing for different purposes and audiences.
I can improve writing through independent review and redrafting.
I can sustain a convincing point of view, anticipating and responding to other perspectives.
Progression step 5
I can present ideas and issues to meet the demands of different audiences.
I can select and use appropriate strategies to plan and develop my writing for a challenging range of different purposes and audiences.
I can improve the content, structure and accuracy of my writing through critical reflection, review and editing, responding constructively to feedback.
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 qualifications
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).