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How to Revise iGCSE Spanish

Build your iGCSE Spanish skills with practice on grammar, vocabulary, and exam-style questions across all themes.

Revision Strategy

Revising Spanish effectively means practising all four skills — listening, reading, writing, and speaking — not just the ones you find easiest. Many students focus on reading and writing because they are easier to do alone, but listening and speaking skills deteriorate quickly without regular practice. Build all four into your weekly revision schedule.

Vocabulary acquisition is the foundation of everything in Spanish. Use spaced repetition — either with physical flashcards or a digital tool — to learn and retain vocabulary systematically. Aim to learn vocabulary in context rather than as isolated words, and always learn the gender of nouns and any irregular verb forms at the same time.

For the writing and speaking components, learn a set of high-quality phrases and structures that you can adapt to any topic. Examiners reward accuracy and complexity, so having a repertoire of subordinate clauses, opinion phrases, and connectives that you can use confidently is more valuable than trying to be creative with language you have not fully mastered. Practise writing and speaking responses under timed conditions to build fluency.

Study Tips for iGCSE Spanish

  • Expose yourself to both European and Latin American Spanish through media, as iGCSE listening materials may feature speakers from different regions with varying accents.
  • Learn verb conjugations systematically across present, past (preterite and imperfect) and future tenses. Accurate tense use is essential for higher grades in iGCSE Spanish.
  • Build vocabulary around the specific topic areas listed in the syllabus and practice using new words in full sentences rather than learning them in isolation.
  • Practice the speaking exam with a partner or by recording yourself. Focus on developing extended responses with opinions, reasons and examples.

Exam Tips for iGCSE Spanish

  • In reading comprehension, watch for false friends (words that look similar in English but mean something different in Spanish). These are commonly used as distractors in iGCSE papers.
  • For writing tasks, include a range of grammatical structures - subordinate clauses, different tenses and subjunctive if possible - to access the highest mark bands.
  • In the listening exam, write down key words as you hear them even if you cannot immediately answer the question. Your notes may help you piece together the answer on the second hearing.

Topics to Cover

8 topics in iGCSE Spanish

Everyday Activities
Personal & Social Life
The World Around Us
The World of Work
Grammar
Vocabulary
Reading & Writing
Listening & Speaking

Available Exam Boards

iGCSE Spanish specification guides for each exam board

Frequently Asked Questions

What topics are covered in iGCSE Spanish? +
The syllabus covers everyday topics including personal identity, house and home, school and education, free time, travel and holidays, work and employment, health and fitness, the environment and media. The exact topic list is defined in the Cambridge International syllabus guide.
Is iGCSE Spanish harder than GCSE Spanish? +
The difficulty level is comparable, but the international context means iGCSE Spanish may include a broader range of accents and cultural references from across the Spanish-speaking world. The assessment structure also differs from UK boards.
Which tenses do I need for iGCSE Spanish? +
You need present, preterite (simple past), imperfect, near future and simple future tenses as a minimum. To access the highest grades, you should also demonstrate use of the conditional and, ideally, the present subjunctive.

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