A levels and HKDSE Spanish Courses
A Levels is the two year curriculum designed by the British Government that qualifies students for accessing a university degree, but it is as well an international school qualification appreciated and taught worldwide. A Levels are subdivided into Advanced Subsidiary Level, AS Level,and A Level itself, this one sometimes also called A2.
Since A Levels are taught over two years, AS Level can be taken as a stand-alone qualification along these two years (generally years 12 and 13 of an international school in Hong Kong end the UK). However, if the aim of the student is getting more in-depth in the subject, AS Level can be completed at the end of Year 12, and A Level/A2 exams are then added on to the AS Level at the end of year 13, bringing it up to the final A Level qualification.Definitely, A Levels constitute the best curriculum to follow if you want your son /daughter to be admitted into a British University.
Students usually study three or four subjects over the two years of A Levels, so they offer a very in-depth subject expertise. As a consequence, this curriculum provides a quick and strong specialization that will clearly shape the future of the student. Given that the choices and grades are of great importance, they should correspond to the focus of particular universities, degrees and employers.
Important Characteristics
Other important characteristics of the curriculum that we take into account in order to help your son/daughter with A Levels Spanish are:
1. One of the core values of A Levels is nurturing communication skills of students, fact that obviously takes a prominent role when acquiring a foreign language.
2. Another A Levels value is shaping independent professionals. Teachers will not chase students up on work missed, as well as they’ll expect them to meet deadlines on their own This way scholars will be in serious need of developing the ability to cope with pressure on their own.
3. A Levels are much more demanding than I/GCSE, and given the amount of contents the work can pile up quickly. Exhibiting a very efficient time management will be essential for the success of the student.
It is clear then that the jump from I/GCSEs is enormous, and if not well managed it can be more of a plummet. Our tutors are very conscious about the challenges that an A Levels student faces. For that reason they would be of big help to him/her, not just in Spanish teaching and practice, but also in promoting in the trainee an efficient time management as well as guiding him/her when being organized and meeting deadlines.
Finally, A Levels are structured so that no coursework or classroom participation grades are factored into the final score. This means that the entire grade is determined by the student’s performance in the final exams. No opportunity of help should then be discarded when meeting such important events.
Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (HKDSE)
Spanish is offered locally in Hong Kong as a foreign language subject to be covered along the three years of senior secondary school curriculum. Assessment follows the Cambridge International Examinations guidelines for AS Level, so the facts and information detailed above apply. Importantly, no School Based Assessment (SBA) is taken into account either in Hong Kong local curriculum, so the grades obtained by the student depend only in the marks achieved in the exams.
The most recent report from the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority states that the candidates taking AS Level struggled during the oral exam when dealing with unexpected questions, those ones going beyond their prepared material and demanding a personal opinion on particular contents. Moreover, students showed a severe lack of references to Hispanic culture and society, that was evident during the presentation and topic conversation.
Targeting the main characteristics and challenges of AS Level, together with the gaps and deficiencies identified in the exam performance of local curriculum students, easily shape the aims of Spanish Tutors when supporting your son/daughter along the HKDSE Spanish subject. Our tutors will then thoroughly accompany the student through a real approach to Hispanic culture and language, as well as will provide him/her strategies to deal with unexpected questions and to develop their own point of view.