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Stude
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Autum
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2 AQA and its liicensors. All rig
ghts reserved.
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STUDENT 1
2
3
4
5
6
STUDENT 1
Foundation
Question 1
Communication (9 marks)
Q1:
Q2:
Q3:
Q4:
Q5:
A perfect answer, so 2 marks are awarded.
The last letter of the second word is difficult to make out, but it is either s or r. Either way the student
scores 1 mark because there is some ambiguity. Me gustas has a correct pronoun with an incorrect
verb ending and me gustar is the infinitive of the verb. In both cases the mark given will always be
1.
The only error is pantaloons, but this has no effect on communication, so the mark is 2.
Totally correct, so 2 marks are awarded.
2 marks again for a completely correct answer.
Question 2
Content (8 marks)
The student writes 63 words, which is short of the recommended minimum of 80, and this has to be borne
in mind when arriving at the mark for Content. Everything that is written is clearly understandable in spite of
errors, but it cannot be said that ‘quite a lot of information’ is conveyed, given the guidance for the length of
the piece. She gives a few opinions and is able to fulfil the 7-9 band criteria very well. For that reason, the
mark awarded is in the middle of the band.
Range and Accuracy (6 marks)
There are few errors, all of which are minor problems with spelling, gender and adjectival agreement. As far
as the accuracy strand is concerned, this would warrant a mark in the top band.
However, the range of language is quite limited and longer sentences are formed either by the use of que
or of porque in all cases. While students should be encouraged to introduce subordinate clauses in this
way, it is also advisable to suggest that they vary the structures and connectives that they use. There is
also frequent repetition of the verb hay and these things, along with the relative shortness of the account,
lead to a mark at the top of the second band rather than the bottom of the top band.
Total mark: 14
7
STUDENT 2
8
9
10
11
STUDENT 2
Foundation
Question 1 (6 marks)
Q1:
Q2:
Q3:
Q4:
Q5:
This is the wrong information (friend’s name rather than a physical or character description) and so
the mark awarded has to be 0.
There are two minor errors (the spelling of Harrogate and the gender of centro), but neither
impinges on comprehension and so 2 marks are given.
Llavar is the incorrect spelling of llevar but, as an infinitive, only 1 mark can be awarded. Another
way of viewing llavar would be as an incorrect spelling of lavar, which would mean a mark of 0
because the wrong message would have been communicated. The other errors do not effect
communication and 1 mark is given here, but only just.
The student makes the mistake of using los deportes instead of el deporte, and misses the accent
off facil, but there are no communication problems and the mark awarded is 2.
The use of the infinitive comer means that the student scores 1 mark because there is some
ambiguity.
Question 2
Content (7 marks)
At 68 words, this falls short of the recommended minimum of 80, which has some
bearing on the mark for Content. There are also a few occasions where clarity is
lacking: los actividas de deportes y educational clubs; Deportes y idiomas nos especialamos en; los
profesores mal educados (no verb). The student does give opinions and just fulfils the criteria for the 7-9
band.
Range and Accuracy (5 marks)
The response is more accurate than inaccurate, which it needs to be in order to score in the 5-6 band,
although some of the errors can create problems with comprehension, as has been shown in the comments
above.
The range of language is quite limited, with sentences being extended successfully on occasion with the
use of y or porque. Creo que vale la pena hacerlo and me hacen reir (despite the incorrect person of the
verb) stand out as more impressive pieces of language, but by and large he keeps to simple structures and
the vocabulary is quite limited. Because of this and the more serious errors he gets a mark at the bottom of
the second band.
Total mark: 12
12
STUDENT 3
13
14
15
16
17
STUDENT 3
Higher
Question 1
Content (12 marks)
The student writes 129 words which exceeds the recommended 80-100 by a significant amount, but
everything that is written is assessed. For this student it is not a problem because the entire response is
clearly understandable. She gives several opinions, for example: A mucha gente no le gusta el colegio;
tiene un ambiente alegre y agradable; lo mejor es que los profesores son muy simpáticos.
The criteria for Content have to be considered within the expected 80-100 words guidance and, as far as
the amount written is concerned, this student comfortably exceeds the requirement for ‘quite a lot of
information’. Everything is conveyed clearly, there is no repetition of facts or opinions and overall this is a
very convincing account.
Range and Accuracy (8 marks)
As far as the accuracy strand is concerned, the account is easily ’generally accurate’, in fact there are only
five errors, all of which are minor in that they have no effect on communication. Spelling is excellent and
even accents are correct. The only problem with verbs is when she uses da for dan when she writes about
the homework she receives.
The range of language, again, goes beyond what is required to score in the top band for this question. She
invariably ‘forms longer sentences’, sometimes ‘by means of simple linking words, such as pero, y and
porque, but also by the use of more adventurous means, for instance by using a si clause and aunque.
Other impressive language occurs throughout: A mucha gente no le gusta; se puede + infinitive; me
parecen fascinantes; the use of ni, and so on.
The vocabulary is varied and the student goes out of her way to avoid repetition: pienso que / creo que /
me parecen; alegre / agradable / fascinantes / interesantes. The language used is worthy of a high mark for
Range of Language in the more demanding Question 2 on this paper, something which is likely to happen
for many students who are entered for Higher Tier.
Total mark: 20
Question 2
Content (15 marks)
The student writes 261 words in response to a question for which the guidance is 150-200 words, but
assessment is based on the entire response. If we look at the criteria for the 13-15 band, it is clear that the
student fulfils them all:
‘Fully relevant and detailed’: the response is clearly relevant to the task, which is to write about friends and
family and how you spend time with them. She mentions her friends and family at different times but
concentrates on the activities they do together. In this way, she avoids the potential pitfall of describing
every member of the family, giving name, age etc. and thereby producing a lot of simple, repetitive
language. Given the recommended word count, this is a detailed account.
‘Sound ability to convey information clearly’: this is definitely the case. There are a few errors, but they do
not delay our comprehension in any way.
‘Express and explain ideas and points of view’: she does this all the time, presenting an opinion and then
going on to justify why she holds that point of view, for example: me encanta pasar tiempo con mis amigos
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y familia / me ayuda a olvidar el estrés del colegio; todas nos encantan las películas comedias / nos hacen
reír mucho.
‘Well organised structure’: everything follows on in a logical sequence. There is no need to have a format of
introduction / development / conclusion, although the smooth transition between writing about her friends
and her family helps the structure enormously. The student’s punctuation is good, which can help both with
structure and clarity.
Because she is able to meet all the criteria in the band, she scores at the top of it.
Range of Language (10 marks)
The student’s sentence structure is excellent for this level and each sentence is extended beyond the
minimal through use of connectives and subordinate clauses. Some of the more impressive things are her
use of object pronouns (me ayuda a olvidar; nos hacen reír); correct use of gustar in anything other than
the first person singular (nos gusta mucho ir; a mi padre le gusta contar); para + infinitive; debería pasar.
There is no conspicuous repetition of the same vocabulary and structures and the piece reads well,
showing the confidence she has in handling language. She uses six verb tenses successfully and her verb
usage is excellent. The only time she falters is when she attempts the very complex había sido ponderada,
but an incorrect attempt at a pluperfect passive can be forgiven.
Accuracy (5 marks)
There are a few errors but they tend to be either minor (película comedia(s); desilusionado for
desilusionadas; Todas nos encantan; por el otro lado; télé; contar los chistes) or in attempts at more
complex language (había ponderado (which is a shame, because it is an impressive verb to use); con los;
consigo). The fact that she goes well over the recommended word limit does not mean that this student
consequently makes more errors and so she gets full marks.
Total mark: 30
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STUDENT 4
20
21
22
23
STUDENT 4
Higher
Question 1
Content (11 marks)
The response is to a setting rather than to a title and in this case students have to give advice to an adult.
This account does what is asked and mentions activities that would appeal to an older person but there
would have been no penalty had it mentioned activities that were more of interest to teenagers.
At 130, the word count is higher than the recommended maximum of 100. Everything that the student
writes is relevant to the task, which is to give details about what there is to do in your area. Most of what is
written is conveyed clearly, apart from the first sentence and the tense of animó in the second paragraph,
and she gives a few opinions. It is because of the lack of clarity that the student scores 11 rather than 12.
Range and Accuracy (8 marks)
As mentioned above, there are some more serious errors which have an effect on immediate
comprehension. However, apart from this, the language is generally accurate, despite some minor errors
(mucha para hacer; la comida ... riquísimo) or ones that are more serious but which don’t affect
communication (por and para confusion; vendan for venden (a minor error if it is seen as the subjunctive
form of vender rather than the indicative of vendar); estaba fenomenal).
There are some nice pieces of language which give some variety: a mi parecer; es bien conocida por;
quesadillas; daba vida a las calles; artistas callejeros. She uses linking words to form longer sentences
(porque; y) and forms subordinate clauses by using que. Because of this, and in spite of the inaccuracies in
the first sentence, she still scores full marks. It may well be that a dictionary was used to find some of these
more impressive pieces of language, in which case she has done it really well.
Total mark: 19
Question 2
Content (9 marks)
There are 162 words, which is within the 150-200 recommendation but towards the lower end of that
recommendation. There are plenty of opinions and explanations of those opinions. The principal
grammatical problem in the account is the confusion of tense between gusta and gustaría and, although
this is the same mistake throughout, it still takes away much of the clarity each time it is made. This lack of
clarity coupled with the fact that the word count is relatively low (even though it is within the
recommendation) means that the top band cannot be reached for two reasons: it is not ‘detailed’ nor does it
show a ‘sound ability to convey information clearly’. The decision is between the 10-12 and 7-9 bands and
whether ‘a lot’ or ‘quite a lot’ of information has been clearly conveyed. Gusta is used in place of gustaría
on seven occasions which means that the lack of clarity is there quite often. So, despite the rest of the
account being perfectly clear, the mark given here is at the top of the 7-9 band.
Range of Language (7 marks)
The main linguistic structure used is the repeated incorrect form of gustar with the infinitive. Longer
sentences are formed almost exclusively through the use of porque which does not show any degree of
complexity. Three tenses other than the present are used on one occasion each (quisiera, era and haría)
and some of the phrasing is good (mi sueño es que quisiera ser; te haría más independiente). She is also
unlucky when she misses the subjunctive after es imprescindible que. Apart from the aforementioned use
of gustar, she does try to vary the language she uses and some of the vocabulary is more unusual
(médicos sin fronteras; una mujer económicamente independiente; un año sabático; estoy preocupada).
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The choice is between the bottom of the 7-8 band and the top of the 5-6 band and on balance she just gets
the former.
Accuracy (4 marks)
The mark of 9 for Content means that the maximum mark available for Accuracy is 4 (one band higher).
Apart from the tense issue with gustar, there are relatively few errors, the only conspicuous ones being
tratar for probar and antes de mi voy. Although, strictly speaking, the problem with gustar means that it is
generous to say that ‘verb and tense formations are generally accurate’, it is the same error that the student
makes each time. The criteria have meant that she has already been penalised quite heavily for the gustar
problem and so the maximum mark available here is given.
Total mark: 20
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