Exam Board and Specification Code: Edexcel (4SP1)
The Course
Spanish is the second largest mother tongue in the world concerning number of speakers, only surpassed by Mandarin Chinese, and it is the official language in 21 countries.
Over 577 million people speak Spanish worldwide, of which over 477 million people are native speakers,
according to a new report from the Spanish government's Cervantes Institute.
Preparing for IGCSE Spanish will allow you to explore and appreciate Spanish culture through its language and to develop the skills of speaking, listening, reading, and writing.
Spanish combines well with a number of other subjects. The related disciplines of other languages, Business Studies, Computer Science and Economics.
What skills do I need?
The IGCSE is one of the world’s most popular international secondary education qualifications and is currently offered in over 900 schools in 80 countries.
You will be prepared to compete and succeed in the global economy; proficiency in other languages is a vital skill that gives you the opportunity to engage with the interdependent world we live in.
With the growing expectation that candidates applying for jobs should be competent in at least one foreign language, Spanish is suitable for students wishing to pursue a wide variety of courses and subsequent careers.
How is the course assessed?
Pearson Edexcel International GCSE in Spanish consists of three papers:
Paper 1: Listening *Paper code: 4SP1/01
This is externally assessed
This examination lasts 30 minutes, plus 5 minutes’ reading time and is worth 25% of the total marks.
You will be required to convey your understanding of spoken Spanish through seven listening tasks, which are a combination of multiple-choice, multiple-matching, notetaking and gap-fill questions.
Paper 2: Reading and Writing *Paper code: 4SP1/02
This is externally assessed
This examination lasts 1 hour and 45 minutes and is worth 50% of the total marks.
This paper is divided in two sections:
Section A: Reading
You will have to answer five questions. There will be a combination of multiple-choice, note-taking, gap-fill and short-answer questions.
Section B: Writing
Here there are two open-response writing tasks and a task that requires writing verbs in their correct forms. Each task in this section is linked to a specific topic area. Please see the list of topics further down.
Paper 3: Speaking *Paper code: 4SP1/03
This is internally conducted and externally assessed
The spoken examination lasts between 8 and 10 minutes and is worth 25% of the total marks. This assessment is conducted by a teacher-examiner from the David Game College. The recording is then submitted to Pearson Edexcel for external marking.
This examination is made up of three tasks (A, B and C). For task A you will choose, present and answer questions on a picture that is related to one of the topic areas. For tasks B and C, you will also discuss two different topics, chosen at random by Pearson Edexcel.
The Examinations Officer will notify the exam date to you in due course.
What are the topic areas covered on this course?
1. Home and abroad
2. Education and employment
3. Personal life and relationships
4. The world around us
5. Social activities, fitness and health
Reading
Edexcel International GCSE Spanish Student Book Second Edition: Mike Thacker, Tony Weston, Simon Barefoot, Mónica Morcillo Laiz, José Antonio García Sánchez, Timothy Guilford (Hodder Education: ISBN-13: 9781510403345)
Edexcel International GCSE and Certificate Spanish Grammar Workbook: Judith O'Hare, Jacqueline López-Cascante (Hodder Education: ISBN-13 9781444181111)
