Spanish A Level- any advice?

[changedmyname24]

I am hoping to do a course in Spanish but am unsure what to do, so any advice would be appreciated please!

I already have A* at GCSE in Spanish, which I got at an evening course about 20 years ago. I use my Spanish a little bit, mainly to help my sons with homework, but I feel it is rusty. I did some Spanish Duolingo last year but that wasn't particularly helpful as it was a different dialect (American Spanish as opposed to European) & was at a very basic level. I am a Linguist & have a degree & MA in French & German, from pre-DC, so I am fairly confident i will pick this up quickly.

My main reasons for doing this are to challenge myself (as I approach the big 5-0!) & to help DS2 as he will either be going to special school soon & not be taught languages, which are his passion or he will need extra support with his GCSE.

Thank you if you have read this & have any advice or recommendations!

Can you do a CEFR placing test to find out if you’re ready for A-level or if you’re too rusty? Also, have you lined up a Spanish A-level course local to you? Evening classes in proper academic subjects that lead to qualifications like A-levels are almost impossible to find now. The OU do language courses though, you could maybe do it that way? Or an online language course from another university? I’m doing French B1/2 right now through coursera but they only do Spanish A1.

Thanks for your response! I have emailed the OU today to ask if they can advise which course might be suitable. I have looked at the college in my town but they only offer English & Maths courses. I would struggle to commit to evenings due to the DC & to DH's work, so I'm thinking distance learning might be best.

I will look at a CEFR placing test, I haven't heard of that before.

I think overall I am pretty nervous about this as it's been a long time & languages is what I'm known for so I don't want to fail embarrassingly iyswim!

Go for DELE B2. More useful than A level for communication IMO. You can go to classes at Institute Cervantes online. City Lit is also good but I don’t think for formal exams. Good for you!!