Spanish GCSE, really worried about what to do

[Anonymousemouses]

DD is in a selective school that expects all the girls to do higher in all subjects.

DD chose Spanish for her GCSE MFL. The teacher in yr 8 was worried she may find grammar difficult.

She had a Spanish teacher in Y9 & 10, who she loved. He encouraged her and she flourished. At the parent's evening at the end of Y10 he said that she would easily get a 8 and quite probably a 9, and should consider it for A Level. This was based on test results throughout the year and the Y10 mocks.

She's got a new teacher for Y11. She's had one test and showed me where the teacher missed something out she wrote. I don't speak Spanish, so couldn't read the test or the answers.

She was marked as a 3.

Her teacher has told her that she should consider doing foundation for her mocks in January. DD said that she wanted to do the higher (as she would not be able to get a 7 or above), but her teacher said that she has seen no evidence that DD can get any higher.

DD has done other tests with higher results and has got great marks for homework.

I've asked DD why the sudden downturn from the last two years to now, and DD said her last teacher believed in her so she felt capable, but now she feels disheartened and useless.

She is going to a clinic at lunchtime and has a sixth form buddy, who said she thinks DD is capable, but I don't know how she knows.

DD said if she does terribly in her mocks, then she'll consider doing foundation, but her teacher said that the marking is more severe in higher, so she will do even worse.

I don't know how to help her? I'm a bit stunned that weeks into the new academic year she has gone from a grade 8/9 to a 3.

I'm fully prepared to support her decision to try for the higher.

She was ill on the day of the test, but I don't know how much this affects anything (I'm not meaning remarking as it was just a test, not something big like a mock or anything).

Who else can you speak to at the school? Is there a year 11 tutor? I would ask for an appointment to discuss this change in the estimate of your daughter's performance. Do you have past school reports that would show what her previous teacher said?

We don't actually have reports, but she may still have old test scores.

There is a y12 tutor, but the school have xlchanged their website, so uts impossible to get teachers contact details now.

Apparently there is a parents evening next month (although there have been no appointment letters yet), so would see the teacher then.

Is it OK ti ker her try the higher for her mocks?

Sod waiting for parents evening OP. Don't mess around. Ring school, speak to head of Spanish and find out what the problem is.
A child who is predicted a 9 in Year 10 should not drop to a Grade 3.
I'd be asking what the hell was going on. And a month is essentially one fifth of the time you have until GCSEs. Don't go waiting around.

This doesn’t make sense. The teachers are in the same department and should be communicating. They should have spreadsheets tracking progress which would show DD’s attainment last year. Also, why don’t you have reports?

Thank you all. DD doesn't want me to discuss it with her teacher, so now won't tell me her name.

We don't get reports, but I've just remembered that we get progress reports.

I'll attach it below. She got a predicted 7 in Autumn, then a 6 in Spring, followed by the 8, which was after her Y10 mocks. I haven't got anything in writing showing that he said 9, but he said she was strong 8 and would likely get a 9.

I could email the whole report to the teacher if I find out her name?

I don't know why, but it's not letting me attach the image

It definitely went Autumn - 7, Spring - 6, Summer Y10 mock - 8

You need to ask to speak to head of MFL.

Hi @Anonymousemouses MFL is my subject tho not really Spanish (I'm Ok but not amazing).

I agree with PP it's bizarre for her to move from a grade 8/9 to a 3. What happened to the other teacher? have they left? (unusual IME to switch teachers during KS4 but obvs if someone leaves you have to).

I am not a fan of predicting a 9 bc MFL is one GCSE where it is so possible for it to go a bit wrong – in the listening and in the speaking as you can't really go back and double check in the way that you can with your maths or history. It's a bit like a drama or music performance. I examine speaking assessments externally (not teaching in school any more) and I have seen a student collapse (and also seen students pull it right back 👏). But even so, a student who is a strong 8 in terms of year 10 work should not be working at a 3 a few months later.

Is there a skill she is weaker on? Can she work on that and improve?

It all seems a bit odd. I don't agree btw that the H paper is marked more severely. Obviously the AOs are set differently so in the speaking exam to get 5/5 for one AO at F level you will be working at a lower level than if you get 5/5 for the same AO at H level. But of course that's so. And in fact for the written papers most of the questions are different – the F ones are easier. The crossover question(s) - there is one in the writing that is on both papers – will be marked to exactly the same mark scheme. Mind you it may be that the teacher didn't say that exactly or was misunderstood.

I am blithely assuming AQA GCSE btw but actually Edexcel is not so very different. Do you have any actual work she has done that has been marked as a grade 3? I am happy to have a look at it and see what I think (caveat above in terms of my Spanish skills but I know the mark scheme inside out). Is she doing actual practise GCSE questions? is that what she has had the grade 3 assessment for? Sorry for so many questions.

@clary her teacher hasn't left, he's still taking the other Spanish class, but it's something to do with the other lessons that her g group has.

It's Edexcel, it's always been AQA, but they changed it to Edexcel for this year 11.

I still don't understand the scoring, sorry (I didn't go to grammar, I'm a bit thick, so do apologise). Does it mean that you can't get above a 6 in foundation? I've not spoken to the teacher, it's just DD told me that you can't get above 5/6 in foundation.

I have no idea what she's not so good in. Her previous teacher was so positive, that he didn't say anything that she needed to improve on.

It was a written test that she got a 3 in. I will photograph it and send it if that's OK? I don't speak any Spanish, so have no idea what I'm looking at.

The highest grade you can get in foundation is a 5.

In higher if you fall below a grade 3 you get a U.

Your GCSE certificate doesn't say if you did H or F tier btw - just gives the grade. Obvs can get grade 3/4/5 at F or H paper. Not that that matters.

You're not thick btw – you have expressed yourself very well here. Nothing wrong with not knowing all about your DCs' GCSE subjects – plenty of my DCs' subjects were beyond my knowledge. By all means PM me a photo of her work and I will look.

"She's got a new teacher for Y11. She's had one test and showed me where the teacher missed something out she wrote. I don't speak Spanish, so couldn't read the test or the answers."

Ask ChatGPT to correct and analyse it. You can also put in questions and her answers and ask ChatGPT to grade it, or to suggest answers that would achieve certain grades. I used it a lot when I homeschooled my daughter in French. My French is not good, and ChatGPT was incredibly helpful.

This might not be within your budget, but sending your daughter to a language school in Spain would almost certainly up her grade, if needed. Tutoring via Preply can also be very helpful. My daughter had a French native speaker tutor who was also a qualified teacher for £16 /hour. In case you are in London, the Institut Cervantes offers special GCSE prep courses. Again, not cheap.

However, first I would find out why she went from a predicted 8 to a 3. Something is not right there.

Thank you all again for your replies.

I have spoken to her teacher and asked about the discrepancy.

It appears the issues are building up the new vocabulary and grammar that they are adding.

Her weakest skill is translation, especially translating the bullet points so she knows what she is being asked to do. If she gets the tense or timeframe wrong, it will lose her a lot of points.

Her teacher pointed out the resources the school pays for, that she has access to (which I didn't know about).

She also has access to a grammar session by a native speaker once a week; I'm not sure when, but I do worry that DD will not avail herself, as she doesn't always eat lunch if her friends want to do something.

I've tried to strike a balance of not pushing her and causing burnout and resentment, with trying to gently encourage. Her need to "chill out", appears to mean that she spends a lot of time playing Roblox, which apparently is "work experience" (she's been made a manager of a shop in the game).

I think allowing her time to "chill out" will have to be curtailed, as I worry that she's not applying herself and is suffering from what I did - panic, but put it out of my mind till the night before!

Thank you again.

Hey @Anonymousemouses this is confusing:
Her weakest skill is translation, especially translating the bullet points so she knows what she is being asked to do. If she gets the tense or timeframe wrong, it will lose her a lot of points.

So there is translation in the reading and the writing paper – reading is Spanish to English and writing the other way round (shorter piece) – this is for higher (F paper has simpler tasks tho still translation).

But "the bullet points so she knows what she is being asked to do" – and thinking about tenses – sounds like the writing paper (where it is important to include past and future tenses for example). Edexcel, looking a few up, used to do the instructions in Spanish, but for the new spec (which is first examined in 2026 so your DD will be doing it) the questions are all in English. Confused? I am.

But anyway, I looked at a past paper from Edexcel old spec, with question instructions and bullets of what to write in Spanish, and tbh even with my weak Spanish (I have only ever taught Year 7 Spanish) I could understand it. The first qu asked for an opinion about where you live, what you did last week, what the weather is like and what you will do when your friend visits. I would say that a student who was looking at a grade 7-9 would easily be able to understand that in Spanish.

So again, I am wondering if there is some misunderstanding?

Anyway, this is meant to be a helpful post. I think your DD should ask again what she needs to do better in and see if any support is offered. Encourage her to look at the school resources, and go to the session with the native speaker - that’s an amazing opportunity to improve. Other than that, it’s a case of practising past paper questions and using the mark scheme to see how well she did. Or her teacher may be happy to mark work done at home – I always was.