🎓 Top Tips for Acing Your Spanish GCSE & A-Level Exams

At Olé Spanish for Everyone, we have been helping students shine in their Spanish exams for over 20 years. Whether you're preparing for your GCSEs or A-Levels, we know that confidence and preparation go hand in hand. Below, we share our best tips—by skill—to help you feel ready, calm, and successful on exam day.

🗣️ SPANISH SPEAKING EXAM: Be Confident, Be Clear

Speaking is often the most nerve-wracking part, but it doesn’t have to be. You’re more prepared than you think!

Tips:

• Practice little and often: 10 minutes a day speaking out loud (even to yourself!) goes a long way.

• Master key structures: Learn a handful of tenses (present, past, future, conditional) and practice using them naturally.

• Prepare phrases you can reuse: Like "En mi opinión…", "Lo bueno es que…", or "Si tuviera más tiempo, me gustaría…" add a subjunctive - Espero que +subjuntivo, Quiero que +Subjuntivo, Ojalá que + subjuntivo...

• Record yourself and listen back—this helps improve pronunciation and fluency.

• Simulate real exams with a teacher or tutor using cue cards and IRP (for A-Level).

🎤 Remember: The examiner isn’t looking for perfection—they’re looking for communication!

📖 SPANISH READING EXAM: Learn to Spot Clues

Reading tasks can seem daunting with unfamiliar words, but with the right approach, they become much easier.

Tips:

• Skim first, then read in detail: Get the gist before diving into the tricky parts.

• Look for cognates: Words like importante, comunidad, experiencia often resemble English.

• Highlight question words: Understand exactly what’s being asked (quién, cuándo, dónde).

• Practice under timed conditions to improve your speed and confidence.

📚 Top tip: Don’t get stuck on one word—move on, and come back if needed.

🎧 SPANISH LISTENING EXAM: Train Your Ear

Listening improves massively with exposure and familiarity.

Tips:

• Listen to Spanish daily: Short podcasts, music, or YouTube videos for learners (slow Spanish is great).

• Don’t panic at unknown words—focus on tone, context, and the words you do know.

• Practice predicting answers just by reading the questions beforehand.

• Do past papers to get used to the speed and structure of the exam.

🎧 Pro tip: Spanish accents vary. Try listening to different speakers (Spain, Latin America) to broaden your ear.

✍️ SPANISH WRITING EXAM: Structure Is Key

Writing is your chance to shine with grammar, vocabulary, and creativity.

Tips:

• Use connectives and varied vocabulary: Words like además, aunque, por lo tanto will boost your grade.

• Organise your paragraphs clearly: Introduction, opinion, reasons, conclusion.

• Learn set phrases you can adapt across different topics (e.g., "Me parece que…", "No solo… sino también…").

• Revise key grammar: Verb endings, agreements, and tricky irregulars.

• Write something fun: The examiners have to go through hundreds of papers. Write something that might put a smile on their faces... extra point for sure!

• Make an effort to write neatly: Once again, if the examiner can't read your handwriting, he/she will put your exam at the bottom of the pile... you don't want your exam to be there!

📝 Olé tip: Quality beats quantity. Better to write less with accuracy and style than to overfill with errors.

💡 Final Thoughts

Your GCSE and A-Level exams are a chance to show off everything you’ve learned—and at Olé Spanish for Everyone, we’re here to support you every step of the way.

Take breaks, sleep well, eat properly—and most importantly, believe in yourself. ¡Tú puedes!

Need more support? Join our revision sessions or book a 1-to-1 booster with one of our experienced tutors.