Edexcel GCSE Spanish Speaking — Foundation Tier

The Pearson Edexcel GCSE Spanish speaking exam (1SP1, first assessed 2026) at Foundation tier has three tasks:

• Task 1 — Read aloud and 2 short unprepared questions: You read a prepared Spanish passage aloud, then answer two short questions you haven't seen before. Pronunciation is assessed in the reading; communication is assessed in the interaction. At Foundation the text uses everyday vocabulary.
• Task 2 — Role play in a transactional setting: A realistic scenario such as buying something, booking a service, or arranging an activity. At Foundation, you produce one question as part of the role play.
• Task 3 — Picture description, 2 short unprepared questions and follow-on conversation: You choose one picture in your pre-selected thematic context, describe it, answer two short questions, then continue into a conversation. At Foundation, the conversation lasts approximately 3–3.5 minutes.

The exam lasts 7–9 minutes at Foundation (50 marks, worth 25% of your GCSE). Preparation time is 15 minutes: 14 minutes supervised silent preparation plus 1 minute to practise the read aloud.

Read aloud and interaction carry 12 marks, Role play 10, Picture task 12 and conversation 16. Select the thematic context in advance from choices generated according to Pearson's process. On the allocated stimulus, choose one of two pictures, describe it and answer two compulsory questions before the unprepared conversation on the same thematic context.

Spanish phonics at Foundation focuses on common sound-letter correspondences — the vowels, the j, the ll and ñ, and the rolled r. Practise making each sound clear in the read-aloud task.

The picture and conversation task at Foundation is structured to help you respond. Prepare relevant vocabulary and practise developing a clear answer with a reason or example where it fits.

Pearson Edexcel uses task-specific marking. The read-aloud section assesses pronunciation, the short interaction and role-play assess communication, and the picture task applies its relevant communication and language criteria.

Spanish has relatively regular sound–spelling patterns, but the letters are not read with English sounds. Practise steady vowels, silent h, j, rr, ñ and stress marks. Some sounds, including ll/y and c/z, vary across valid Spanish accents.

For the picture and conversation task at Foundation, choose your thematic context early and prepare to describe familiar images within it. Aim to give complete sentences with a reason attached to each opinion. Me gusta porque… is a reliable sentence structure that will work across almost every topic.