Course information
Spanish
The Godolphin and Latymer School - Hammersmith and Fulham
02087411936
Iffley Road, Hammersmith, London, W6 0PG
Course summary

Taking A Level Spanish allows students to reach a high level of fluency in one of the major international languages. From cinema and literature to history and politics, A Level Spanish will challenge you to think, and inspire you to delve ever deeper into the incredible diversity of cultures not only in Spain but also in Latin America The AQA Spanish A Level will introduce you to a wide range of topics of contemporary interest, including Social Issues and Trends, and Political and Artistic Culture in the Hispanic World. This means you will learn about a range of subtopics, including popular culture, regional customs and traditions, cyberspace, immigration and integration, the Spanish Civil War, Latin American dictatorships and contemporary social protest movements. You can expect to make rapid linguistic progress in your Language lessons, developing your skills in listening, reading, translation (from and into Spanish) and summary (from both audio and printed material). In your literature lessons, you will learn to write essays of critical analysis on Spanish literature and film. Set texts are the film Volver, by Pedro Almodóvar, and the play La Casa de Bernarda Alba, by Federico García Lorca. Your oral lessons will prepare you for the oral examination, for which you will choose a topic to investigate for your research project. You are strongly encouraged to organise an independent visit to Spain or another Spanish-speaking country during the Lower Sixth year and we can advise on companies who offer work experience or language courses. Closer to home, there will be opportunities to visit exhibitions, lectures, films and plays, some of which may be organised by the department. At all times, you will be encouraged to listen to podcasts, watch films and keep up to date with Spanish and Latin American current affairs. In school, there is a lively debating club which prepares for the Spanish Debating Competition in the Spring Term. You may also run clubs for younger years, such as a Cinema club or Spanish Chats. Recent G&L students of Spanish have gone on to read Spanish at a variety of top universities including Oxford and Cambridge, either combining with another language (eg French or ab initio Portuguese or Arabic) or another discipline (eg Law, English, Maths, History, History of Art), as well as in the USA. The skills and experiences you gain on your Year Abroad are highly prized by employers.

Entry requirements

For popular courses such as Economics, English Literature, History, Medicine, or Psychology, all of the competitive universities require at least grade AAA at A Level or, usually, a score of 37-39 IB points; the most competitive require A*AA (or even occasionally A*A*A) or 7 points in one or more HL subject. Universities such as Bath, Bristol, Durham, Imperial, Manchester, UCL and Warwick may also require A*AA or 7 points in an HL subject for courses in Sciences, Engineering or Mathematics; a few of these courses will require IB students to have 7 points in a specific HL Science or Mathematics and A Level students to have A* in a specific Science or Mathematics. Cambridge currently requires a minimum of A Level grades of A*AA for all Arts courses and for Psychological and Behavioural Sciences, and A*A*A for all Science courses, Computer Science and Economics. Irrespective of course, the standard IB requirement is 40-42 points, including 776 in the three Higher Level subjects. In practice, however, higher (or lower) offers are sometimes made to both A Level and IB students; these are decided on an individual basis. Oxford currently requires A Level grades of AAA for all Arts courses and for Human Sciences, A*AA for most Science courses, Economics and Management, Geography, and Psychology, Philosophy & Linguistics, and A*A*A for Chemistry, Engineering and Mathematics courses. Irrespective of course, the standard IB requirement is 38-40 points with 666-776 in the three Higher Level subjects. Unlike at Cambridge, these entry requirements are standardised across the university and are rarely raised or lowered.

How you'll be assessed

Paper 1 Listening, Reading, Translation from and into Spanish 50% Paper 2 Writing (Essays on literature and film) 20% Paper 3 Oral (Stimulus card and Individual Research Project) 30%

School Info

About Education Provider

RegionLondon
Local AuthorityHammersmith and Fulham
Ofsted Rating
Gender TypeGirls
ISI ReportView Report
Boarding FeeUnknown
Sixth Form Fee£26,831
AddressIffley Road, Hammersmith, London, W6 0PG