Reaction to 2026 Leaving Certificate Spanish (Higher Level) by Maria Fenton, Spanish teacher at The 91制片厂.
- An accessible paper that will allow students of all levels access the texts and topics
- Little nuances throughout the exam will challenge the top students to adapt to keep fully on task
There has been a听positive听trend in recent years for the Spanish exam to look to the Spanish speaking world as whole. In this paper we find Spain mingled with mentions of Cuba,听Mexico听and Chile.听听
The听initial听reading comprehension听contains听a choice between prescribed literature and a journalistic text. In previous听years听the majority would have skipped the Marquez and听in favour of the听article,听but this year might see some听teachers听choosing听the听literary听option. Marquez has been replaced by 鈥淓l听medall贸n听perdido鈥� by听Alcolea听which is specifically geared towards a young adult audience. This choice to explore literature in Spanish through the eyes of young people might resonate more with those sitting the exam. The journalistic piece is always something of a surprise as you never know what you are going to get. Here students were met with an article on Mario, a听72-year-old听Cuban man who lives on cruise ships.听The majority of听the questions will be very approachable to students of all levels, with the vocabulary necessary for the advantage of having no chores being reminiscent of more introductory tasks. The synonyms will be tricky though as there are no half measures when it comes to听identifying听the whole phrases. The translations questions towards the end of this section were particularly nice as their where no complex tense contrivances.听听
This accessibility continues into the short cultural texts, the first of which tackles a deeply contentious issue:听should la tortilla de听patata听be made with or without onion?听While most students听won鈥檛听already be deeply entrenched in this debate, the vocabulary was familiar.听
Section B鈥檚 comprehension and opinion pieces were on the theme of learning a second language. The questions on the text were more idiomatic than might be comfortable for weaker students and the synonym question would prompt many to fall back to processes of elimination through grammar. The听real challenge听of this section, and the paper as whole lay in the essay titles: the importance of learning new things, speaking听other languages is fun, and it is never too late to do new things. In the abstract these topics are fine but there is not a lot of overlap with the topics that students typically prepare: health, environment, tech etc. As such students will really need to plan out their approach and avoid waffling if they want to keep on topic and earn the content marks.听听
Moving to Section C: Written Production, weaker students often opt for the translation听option听seeking refuge in the brevity of the prompts. While the quantity of writing is less for this听option, the questions demanded them to adeptly shift tenses.听Indeed听the final prompt included 鈥渨hen you return home鈥� which in Spanish requires the use of the subjunctive. In contrast, those who opted for the more verbose letter will find a lovely听option听that makes use of that material excluded from Section B鈥檚 essays. They will听breathe a sigh of relief听seeing topics like exercise and mental health appear in prompts that are听mainly in听the present tense.听
Finishing out the written听portion听of the exam, both the diary and the note were great options. The diary entry asks them to envisage a trip to Ibiza. The prompts on why you like the island or the description of a new friend Miguel will allow students to essential cherry-pick their strongest descriptive phrases. The note might appear more vocabulary sensitive but, unlike the earlier synonym tasks, they听don鈥檛听need to be verbatim to the prompt. If a student听couldn鈥檛听remember the Spanish for 鈥渋ngredients鈥� that could swap it out for a list of听what鈥檚听in the kitchen and score just as well.听
Overall, students should feel pleased with this听fair听paper. It gave them lots of choice while also having enough nuance to help the top performers distinguish themselves without discouraging weaker students.听