9 ways to get a 9 in GCSE Spanish
July 20th, 2022Last updated: March 17th, 2023
In this article, one of our top Spanish tutors, Laura, offers her 9 tips to make a 9 more achievable in GCSE Spanish. As well as great general tips for all students, you will also find useful content for your specific exam-board. Be sure to check out our other GCSE subject guides too!
You don’t have to be a native speaker to get a 9 in GCSE Spanish. A solid revision plan and an idea of what the exam boards are looking for is all you need for success in your Spanish GCSE. Take a look at the following tips and see if they can help you achieve your best in your GCSE Spanish exams.
1. Practice makes Perfect
Focusing on cultivating a revision habit for vocabulary of at least 5 minutes a day on Quizlet or with flashcards is better than 30 mins the night before a vocab test. Don’t believe me? Check out the science of Spaced Repetition and Ebbinghaus’ ‘Forgetting Curve’ theory which prove the benefits of little and often for long-term memory. You could even create your own vocabulary tracker so you know which words to go back over and can feel a sense of completion when you have got through a topic.
2. Use it or lose it!
Vocabulary should be seen & used in context to be better remembered. When focusing on a topic of vocab for revision, check to see if you can do a gap-fill, comprehension or translation after a few days of vocab revision to consolidate your learning and commit the words to long-term memory. That way, you can also see the benefits & success of your revision technique.
3. Past Papers
Use Past Papers for Reading and Listening and check the mark scheme to highlight any gaps in your knowledge. You could highlight any unknown words and create your own vocab list/Quizlet set from them. The results could even be used as formative assessment feedback so you can create your next revision plan for the coming weeks.
Exam board links
4. Check your Exam Technique
Use those past papers not just to check any gaps in content knowledge but also to check your own exam technique. Do you know all the question words in Spanish? Are you answering in the right tense? Are you able to write the suggested amount of words per bullet point? Are you using the 5 mins reading time wisely before the listening track starts?
5. I think… therefore I am
What all exam boards want to see in both speaking and writing is consistently developed opinions and justifications. Remembering to extend your answers with words and phrases like ‘A mi modo de ver’ (From my way of thinking)/ ‘Desde mi punto de vista’ (From my point of view)/ ‘A mi juicio’ (in my opinion/judgement) can prompt you to do this and is a good habit to get into if you really want to score in the top bands for language and content.
6. Complex structures:
Another thing that examiners are looking for in order to score top marks is the use of complex structures. I recommend learning a handful of ‘Wow’ phrases eg. Si hubiera sido posible, me habría gustado (+ infinitive) = If it had been possible, I would have liked to
I would also recommend learning 2/3 flexible idioms that can be used in a range of contexts for both writing and speaking. For example, ‘ser pan comido’ – to be a piece of cake, ‘costar un ojo de la cara’ – to be expensive.
7. Variety is the spice of life
The ability to use a range of tenses will also demonstrate a competence worthy of a top grade at GCSE. I usually ask students to start by learning the ‘I/yo’ conjugation of the most common verbs in past, present and future tenses as these will be the most frequently used for the writing and speaking exams (along with ‘it was’ ‘it is’ & ‘it will be’). The other pronoun conjugations can be perfected later.
8. Try to cultivate a genuine curiosity for the Hispanic world
The most successful learners I have seen are the ones who like to tell me about the Netflix series they are watching in Spanish or the Mexican friends they made whilst on holiday. They go out of their way to expose themselves to new experiences in the target language whether that be through magazines, social media or travel and realise that the greatest gift of learning a language isn’t getting a 9 at GCSE, but developing an open mind that helps you to connect with others and see the value and insight of other viewpoints.
9. Get some beauty sleep!
As well as cultivating your vocab learning habit, you should also bear in mind the importance of getting a good night’s sleep in order to consolidate your learning to your long-term memory. Some studies have shown a direct correlation between students who do not sleep well and poor grades at school, perhaps also due to their inability to concentrate in lessons. It also goes without saying that a good night’s sleep before the day of your exams, that you have worked so hard for, will stand you in good stead so you can perform to the best of your ability and get the grade that you deserve and are capable of.
Hopefully all or some of these tips can help you to structure your own revision plan for Spanish to try and get you that 9/A*. The ability to cultivate good habits is key to learning anything and if you put in the effort, I am sure that you are capable of achieving your best in any subject. Buena suerte!
Start the discussion!