Edexcel A Level Spanish (9SP0) — Paper 1, Section A: Listening
Teacher Guide: Listening (Questions 1–4)
What examiners reward, where students lose marks, and what the recordings have looked like from 2018 to 2025
This guide is based on the question papers, mark schemes (including the audio transcripts printed at the end of each one) and Principal Examiner reports for all eight series from June 2018 to June 2025. All of them are saved in Spanish/A Level/Past Papers. References such as (ER 2024) mean the examiner report for that year, (MS 2023) the mark scheme and (QP 2019) the question paper. Counts and averages in Section 3 are our own tallies from those papers. The teaching suggestions in Section 4 are ours. They follow from the evidence but do not come from Pearson.
1. The task
Paper 1 lasts 2 hours and is worth 80 marks. Section A (Listening) is worth 30 marks. The front cover says: “We recommend you spend 50 minutes on Section A: Listening, 50 minutes on Section B: Reading and 20 minutes on Section C: Translation into English”, and “Candidates are recommended to start with Section A: Listening” (QP 2018–2025). The Section A heading adds: “We recommend you spend no more than 50 minutes on this section.”
Students control the recording. “You will be in charge of the recording and you may listen to each passage as often as you wish, and write your answers whenever you wish to do so” (QP 2018–2025).
Equipment: 2018–2021 papers say “Listening equipment CD/MP3”. From 2022 they say “the correct digital recording (downloaded at your centre) and a suitable individual listening device” (QP 2022–2025). No dictionary is allowed (QP 2018–2025).
Answers are in Spanish. Every open question says Contesta las preguntas en español or Responde en español. “Written responses in the wrong language cannot be awarded a mark” (MS 2021–2025). “The translation in Section C is the only question where English is required” (ER 2018–2025).
The Section A instructions (QP 2025, same meaning every year): “Questions 2, 3 and 4(a) do not require full sentences and you may respond using single words or short phrases. Question 4(b) does not require full sentences and you may respond using short phrases. You may use words from the listening passages, but you must not transcribe whole sections.”
The Q4(b) instruction: “Resume la siguiente conversación. Las expresiones cortas son válidas. Menciona tres detalles para la pregunta 4(b)(i) y tres detalles para la pregunta 4(b)(ii)” (QP 2022–2025; 2019–2021 say en la pregunta; 2018 says Da tres detalles).
The paper prints the approximate length of each passage before Question 1 (see 3.4).
1.1 The same shape every year
The structure has not changed once in eight series (QP 2018–2025):
| Question | Recording (length range) | Format | Marks | Items |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | Passage 1 (51–74 seconds) | Multiple choice: four sentence starters, each with four endings A–D. Put a cross in the box | 4 | 4 × 1 mark |
| Q2 | Passage 2 (53–68 seconds) | Open questions answered in Spanish | 5 | 3–4 items |
| Q3 | Passage 3 (1 min 50 s – 2 min 26 s) | Open questions answered in Spanish. The longest recording | 9 | 6–7 items |
| Q4(a) | Passage 4(a) (61–100 seconds) | Open questions answered in Spanish on the first part of a report | 6 | 3–5 items |
| Q4(b) | Passage 4(b) (84–102 seconds) | Guided summary in Spanish: two speakers, three bullet points each | 6 | 6 bullets × 1 mark |
| Total | About 6½–8 minutes of audio | 30 | 23–25 marked items |
Sources: QP 2018–2025 (passage lengths, marks in brackets); MS 2018–2025 (mark allocations).
Q4(a) and Q4(b) are one report split in two: “Comprehension of the first half of the interview is tested via comprehension questions, Q4(a), while the second half, Q4(b), is tested through a guided summary in Spanish” (ER 2018).
2. What examiners are looking for
The rules below are printed in the mark schemes or come up again and again in the examiner reports. Each one is shown with real examples from the listening questions.
2.1 Understanding matters, not language quality
“There are no marks for quality of language in this paper so errors and omissions in spelling and grammar will be tolerated as long as the message is not ambiguous and do not interfere with communication” (MS 2023, 2024, 2025; similar wording MS 2021, 2022).
The first report put it this way: “where the correct information is conveyed in a manner that is understandable (even if it is not accurate), the mark can be given. Where misspelling or poor grammar renders a response ambiguous or wrong, then the mark is withheld” (ER 2018).
So ilo was accepted for hilo, but nilo and unirlo were not: “the others were considered too far from the correct version” (ER 2020). ensallos, persuación, criansa, trayicionando and fayar are all listed as allowed in MS 2025.
2.2 Mishearing: a problem in every report
Every one of the eight reports gives examples of a word that was misheard or written down as a different word. When the result is a real but wrong word, or no recognisable word, the mark is lost.
| Series | On the recording | Students wrote | Examiner comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | no te rindas | rindarse (one word, non-existent infinitive) | Q2(b) (ER 2018) |
| 2018 | me inscribí en un curso | escribió | Q4(a)(i) (ER 2018) |
| 2018 | destrezas | destrecas, estrezas | Q3(e) (ER 2018) |
| 2019 | coser (sew) | cocer (cook) | “the error lead to the creation of a word with an entirely different meaning” (ER 2019) |
| 2019 | tasa (rate) | taza (cup) | Q4(a)(i) (ER 2019) |
| 2019 | me dio casa | medio casa | Q4(b)(i) (ER 2019) |
| 2020 | pendiendo de un hilo | pendiente de un nilo, unirlo | Q3(f); ilo accepted, the others not (ER 2020) |
| 2021 | lealtad | ley altad | Q2 (ER 2021) |
| 2022 | bajas audiencias | vacas audiencias | Q4(a)(iii) (ER 2022) |
| 2023 | traslados | tras lados | Q2(a), not credited (ER 2023) |
| 2023 | cooperar | corporación | Q2(b), too ambiguous (ER 2023) |
| 2023 | una decena | 100s or 1000s | Q2(d) (ER 2023) |
| 2024 | nos sobrepasa | no sobrepasa | Q4(a)(iv): “far more candidates answered as though they had heard the second” (ER 2024) |
| 2024 | casi 75 euros | 65 | Q2(c) (ER 2024) |
| 2025 | de 10 a 16 años | 17 or 18 | Q4(b)(i) (ER 2025) |
| 2025 | traicionando (betraying) | tradicionando | Q4(b)(i), “too much ambiguity to score” (ER 2025) |
Examiner advice on listening (six reports, 2019–2024): “When listening, try partitioning the words you hear in different ways, e.g. is “medio” actually “me dio”.” (ER 2019, 2022) “Ask yourself whether you are hearing two words or one longer word.” (ER 2021) “Try joining or partitioning the words you hear in different ways, e.g., is ‘tras lados’ actually ‘traslados’?” (ER 2023). “…eg is the word you are listening to no or nos? Is that sesenta or setenta?” (ER 2024) “Take care when transcribing unfamiliar words, especially where there may be a silent letter or two of the same letter next to each other in a sentence.” (ER 2020) |
2.3 Answer the question that was asked
Recognising where the answer is on the recording is not enough. “Identifying roughly the area of the text where the information is to be found, is not enough for a mark at A level” (ER 2023).
| Question asked | What went wrong | What scored |
|---|---|---|
| ¿Por qué se mencionan los animales? (2018, 2c) | pasear perros on its own | It is a job option: Puedes (crear un negocio para) pasear perros (MS, ER 2018) |
| ¿Por qué razón se recomienda un supermercado? (2018, 2d) | Students assumed it was a place to get a job | A place to put up a notice advertising your business (MS, ER 2018) |
| ¿Qué aptitudes se recomiendan…? (2018, 2b) | Types of business that could be set up | Personal qualities: No rendirse and Ser creativo (MS, ER 2018) |
| ¿Qué hacía el dictador frente a los escándalos de su familia? (2022, 3f) | The line as heard: ningún rumor … salió a la luz pública, or se comportaba como un monarca absolutista | What Franco did: Los ocultaba / escondía / encubría. “These candidates are leaving the examiner to infer the answer, rather than infer it themselves” (ER 2022) |
| ¿Qué hizo el canal Telecinco en 2005? (2022, 4a ii) | El concurso pasó a Telecinco (listed as Reject) | Telecinco’s action: Emitió / compró el programa (MS, ER 2022) |
| ¿Por qué las mujeres trabajadoras se ven penalizadas…? (2023, 4a v) | La economía premia a los que trabajan a tiempo completo (no link to women) | The same point linked to women: …y las mujeres trabajan a tiempo parcial (MS, ER 2023) |
| Los recuerdos … ¿son positivos o negativos? (2020, 3a) | Positivos or negativos on its own | Había aspectos positivos y negativos / una mezcla (MS, ER 2020) |
| ¿Por qué se menciona Rumanía? (2025, 3c) | Hay rumanos en la ciudad | Rumanía es ahora miembro de la UE y vienen a España. Both ideas were needed (MS, ER 2025) |
ER 2020 advice: “Reread your answers; does your answer logically match the question, e.g. if asked “who”, have you given an answer to “what”?”
2.4 Change the speaker’s words: first person and who did what
Most recordings are people talking about themselves, so the words on the recording are in the first person. Copying them into an answer changes who they refer to.
“Students must be careful not to respond using the 1st person, as this refers to the student rather than to the interviewee” and “students should practise changing 1st person verbs, pronouns and possessives into 3rd person” (ER 2018).
2023, 2c: a todos los inmigrantes llegados a nuestras costas se les debe hacer una prueba de salud did not score because “‘nuestras’ is first person (i.e. referring to the person who wrote the answer: the candidate) and this is never correct” (ER 2023). Changing nuestras to las scored.
2025, 3d: En mi barrio was rejected (first person) and so was En su barrio (“the author is not mentioned in the question”) (MS 2025).
Spanish drops the subject, so examiners read a verb without one as referring to whatever the question is about:
2020, 4a(ii): the question asked about consecuencias, so Van a perder seemed to refer to the consequences. “It cannot be assumed that ‘they’ refers to young people” (ER 2020).
2019, 3g: su bienestar was not clear. “The correct answer is el bienestar de España … the su could only refer to the King in this context” (ER 2019).
2025: in 3(f) some answers suggested immigrants were mixing with other immigrants rather than with locals, and in 4(b)(i) some thought the parents were betraying the children (ER 2025). 2024, 3(c): lifting acogerles with no mention of immigrants was ambiguous (ER 2024).
| Examiner advice (ER 2023, 2024; similar in ER 2019, 2020, 2022, 2025): “Make sure your answer is clear, e.g., does your verb need a subject? Do you need to give any context?” ER 2023 suggests practising mis → sus, yo → él/ella, descubrí → descubrió. |
2.5 Lifts: targeted or untargeted
Every mark scheme since 2021 gives the same example: the text Como principalmente frutas y verduras para estar sano, the question ¿en qué consiste una dieta sana? The rewardable answer is Comer principalmente frutas y verduras. Copying the sentence with como is not rewarded because it “does not render an accurate answer to the question” (MS 2021–2025).
Mark schemes mark this explicitly. In 2022, 2(a) accepted the “Targeted lift: quiere aumentar los casi 5 millones” but rejected the “Untargeted lift: aumentar los casi 5 millones” (MS 2022). In 2(c) the lifts apostando por el turismo sostenible and propuestas ecológicas “were not sufficiently focussed on the question and did not score” (ER 2022).
Some lifts are listed as acceptable, e.g. es producto afortunado de varias buenas iniciativas privadas (MS 2021, 4a iv) and the whole Q2(b) sentence about rehearsals and games room, worth 2 marks (MS 2025). A lift works when it already answers the question as asked.
“Do not rely on just using words from the text. Your answer will probably make more sense if you use some of your own words as well” (ER 2022).
2.6 Two marks: two different ideas, and both sides of a change
Change or comparison needs both halves. “For a change to be shown, the original and the later state are both needed, hence the 2 marks” (ER 2019). “Where a comparison is asked for and 2 marks are on offer … you must give an idea of both elements being compared” (ER 2022). The 2018 summary advice says: “where a change or difference is requested, be prepared to state two things” (ER 2018).
| Question | One mark only | Two marks |
|---|---|---|
| ¿Cómo ha cambiado la vida de los protagonistas? (2019, 4a ii) | Han cumplido sus sueños | La vida era muy dura AND han cumplido sus sueños (MS, ER 2019) |
| ¿Qué diferencia hay entre la experiencia de Natalia y la de otros hoteleros? (2018, 4a iii) | Tiene un equipo estable | …AND muchos hoteleros no tienen personal estable (MS, ER 2018) |
| ¿Cómo se compara la reacción de los espectadores…? (2022, 4a iv) | The first series was memorable | …AND nadie recuerda las otras ediciones (MS, ER 2022) |
| ¿Qué cambios se han notado en la ciudad? Da dos ideas (2025, 3b) | Recibe gente de fuera and hay gente de Sudamérica (the same idea twice) | La ciudad está creciendo AND hay más gente de fuera (MS, ER 2025) |
| ¿Qué tiene la mayoría de los inmigrantes…? Da dos ideas (2019, 4a iv) | Two references to education | Un visado AND cualificaciones (MS, ER 2019) |
Order of elements: “Consider only as many elements as there are marks, for example for a 1-mark answer, the candidate’s first response is taken for assessment, even if this response is incorrect but the correct information follows” (MS 2021–2025).
“Listen out for details and if there are 2 marks available, ask yourself whether you have given two separate ideas or just two versions of the same” (ER 2019; similar wording ER 2022).
2.7 Numbers, time frames and exact detail
“If you are asked a ‘how many’ question, make sure you read carefully around the number in the text. There may be additional information that has an impact on this number” (ER 2022). In 2022, 2(a) 5 millones and casi 5 millones did not score: the region wanted more than the almost 5 million of the year before (MS, ER 2022).
2024, 2(a): to explain the 16 % figure “There were three key ideas that needed to be included to get the mark (increase/ money/ tourism)” (ER 2024). 2(c): “due to a poor choice of preposition, they suggested that the amount had increased by 75€ rather than to 75€” (ER 2024).
2024, 3(b): “For the number 10 000, it was necessary to specify hoy or cada día. For the second mark, they needed to specify el próximo mes” (ER 2024). 2025, 4a(ii): many only scored one mark for the 8 % because “they did not mention ahora or actual” (ER 2025).
“Be particularly careful with numbers. When listening, take care with those with similar sounds eg seis and siete” (ER 2025).
Other examples of missing detail: the course was in English (2018, 4a i); the son works in the business, not just studied tourism (2018, 4a iv); recently arrived immigrants live a double life (2021, 3d); politicians offered to house immigrants en su casa (2024, 3c); patients would not have to pay for transport (2024, 4b ii). Sources: ER 2018, 2021, 2024.
2.8 The summary, Question 4(b)
Q4(b) has its own rules in the mark scheme:
“In Question 4b, candidates must use short phrases but no single words, as this would not be appropriate for summary writing” (MS 2021–2025).
“For each bullet point, the order of elements rule applies. If a student gives two responses for the first bullet point, the first one only counts” and “The bullet points do not need to be answered in the correct order” (MS 2023–2025).
Writing too much comes up in seven of the eight reports:
“where the answer was as long as the original text, the answer could not be considered a ‘summary’ and so some marks were withheld” (ER 2018).
“If you give three details for just one of the bullet points, you are at risk of not gaining any marks for the two subsequent bullet points” (ER 2020, 2021).
In 2022 and 2023 answers spilled into the margins: “in some instances transcribing practically the whole text and squeezing information above, below and next to the lines provided” (ER 2023). In one 2023 script the fourth sentence “cannot be used as an answer because there have already been three attempts at an answer and this is all that is allowed in a 3-mark question” (ER 2023).
Only the key point is needed. In 2018 “it was enough to state that Natalia found it hard to juggle family and work”; the detail about school holidays “was unnecessarily detailed” (ER 2018).
A bullet about change still needs the before and after: “students needed either to mention how things used to be and how they are now or to use language that conveyed what things are like NOW” (ER 2018, Sara and advertising).
| Examiner advice (ER 2022–2025): “Remember that Q04(b) is a summary, so you only need ONE piece of information for each bullet-point; do not transcribe the whole passage. Make sure each idea is clearly separated by bullet points, full-stops or by being on a separate line.” “It is good practice to use bullet-points in the answer, or to put one answer per line” (ER 2024, 2025). |
3. Patterns from 2018 to 2025
The figures in this section are our own counts from the question papers, mark schemes and transcripts. Topic groupings in 3.2 are ours, not Pearson’s sub-theme labels.
3.1 The recordings
| Series | Q1 (multiple choice) | Q2 | Q3 | Q4(a) and 4(b) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 2018 | Podcast: New Year’s resolutions | Podcast: summer jobs, starting your own business | Interview: multicultural workforce in a Valencia ceramics factory | Interview: two women running their own hotels |
| Jun 2019 | Podcast: three unusual social networks | 1964 Franco-era newsreel: Sección Femenina summer camps for girls | King Juan Carlos’s 1981 Christmas message after the attempted coup | TV report: successful immigrants; Sadik and Sara |
| Oct 2020 | Interview: Civil War veteran | Blog opinion: YouTubers’ advice on university choices | Interview: a 91-year-old woman remembers the Transition, 1977 elections, 23-F | 2011 documentary: youth unemployment; Tamara and David |
| Oct 2021 | Mayor of Campillo de Ranas, a village known for gay weddings | Radio: narcocorrido (Mexican music) | Interview: Rafael, Latin American immigrant in Spain | Report: wine tourism in La Rioja; two winery owners |
| Jun 2022 | TV drama scene set in 1928: gender equality at work | Advert: Galicia tourism strategy | Interview: historian on corruption under Franco | Report: Operación Triunfo; the director and a contestant |
| Jun 2023 | Report: Maspalomas carnival, Canary Islands | Radio: moving migrants from Tenerife to the mainland | Interview: Carmen del Riego on journalism and the Internet | Report: gender pay gap; two experts |
| Jun 2024 | Wedding planner’s website: gay weddings | TV report: economic impact of tourism in Málaga | Interview: Vox politician on immigration and minors | Report: the media in Guatemala; a teacher and a doctor |
| Jun 2025 | First-person account: the day Franco died | Report: TV music contest Dúos increíbles | A man on how his Córdoba neighbourhood has changed | Report: blended families; two experts |
Sources: QP 2018–2025 (titles and rubrics); MS 2018–2025 (transcripts); ER 2019 (No-Do newsreel).
3.2 How often each topic area comes up
32 recordings (four per series, counting Q4(a) and (b) as one). Our grouping:
| Topic area | Count | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Media, TV, music and technology | 7 | 2019 Q1; 2020 Q2; 2021 Q2; 2022 Q4; 2023 Q3; 2024 Q4; 2025 Q2 |
| Immigration and integration | 6 | 2018 Q3; 2019 Q4; 2021 Q3; 2023 Q2; 2024 Q3; 2025 Q3 |
| Franco, Civil War and the Transition | 6 | 2019 Q2, Q3; 2020 Q1, Q3; 2022 Q3; 2025 Q1 |
| Tourism and festivals | 5 | 2018 Q4; 2021 Q4; 2022 Q2; 2023 Q1; 2024 Q2 |
| Work, the economy and equality at work | 4 | 2018 Q2; 2020 Q4; 2022 Q1; 2023 Q4 |
| Family, marriage and same-sex marriage | 3 | 2021 Q1; 2024 Q1; 2025 Q4 |
| Customs (New Year resolutions) | 1 | 2018 Q1 |
| Total | 32 |
Immigration has appeared in every series except 2020 and 2022, and in Q3 in four of the eight series (2018, 2021, 2024, 2025).
Franco / the Transition appeared in 2019, 2020, 2022 and 2025; twice in 2019 and twice in 2020.
Same-sex weddings have been the Q1 topic twice (2021, 2024).
Latin America: Mexico (2021 Q2), a Colombian speaker (2021 Q3), Guatemala and Costa Rica (2024 Q4). The other recordings are set in Spain.
Older material: a 1964 newsreel and the 1981 royal speech (2019), a 2011 documentary (2020). The reports describe texts as “fiction and non-fiction, literary, historical and contemporary” (ER 2019–2025).
3.3 Types of recording and number of voices
| Question | Type of recording (8 series) | Voices on the transcript |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 | Podcast 2, interview/monologue 3, TV drama 1, report 1, website text 1 | One voice in 6 series; two in 2019; three in 2022 (drama) |
| Q2 | Report or TV report 3, radio programme 2, podcast 1, blog 1, advert 1 | One voice in 6 series; two in 2023 and 2025 |
| Q3 | Interview 6, royal speech 1 (2019), monologue 1 (2025) | Two voices (interviewer + guest) in 6 series; one in 2019 and 2025 |
| Q4(a) | Report or documentary 7, interview 1 (2018) | One voice in 6 series; two in 2018 and 2020 |
| Q4(b) | Interview/conversation with two named people, every year | Three voices every year: presenter + two speakers |
Sources: QP rubrics (“Escucha este podcast / esta entrevista / este reportaje…”); speaker labels (M1, F1…) in the MS transcripts 2018–2025.
Q4(b) speakers: 10 of the 16 are women. Six pairs were a man and a woman (2019–2023, 2025); two pairs were both women (2018, 2024).
3.4 Length of the recordings
| Series | P1 | P2 | P3 | P4(a) | P4(b) | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 0:51 | 0:55 | 2:18 | 1:10 | 1:40 | 6:54 |
| 2019 | 1:06 | 0:53 | 2:04 | 1:01 | 1:28 | 6:32 |
| 2020 | 0:55 | 0:57 | 2:26 | 1:17 | 1:37 | 7:12 |
| 2021 | 1:08 | 1:01 | 2:00 | 1:26 | 1:24 | 6:59 |
| 2022 | 1:14 | 1:05 | 2:05 | 1:14 | 1:36 | 7:14 |
| 2023 | 1:13 | 1:06 | 2:21 | 1:24 | 1:41 | 7:45 |
| 2024 | 1:11 | 1:08 | 2:12 | 1:40 | 1:42 | 7:53 |
| 2025 | 0:55 | 1:08 | 1:50 | 1:19 | 1:32 | 6:44 |
| Average | 1:04 | 1:02 | 2:10 | 1:19 | 1:35 | 7:09 |
Source: approximate durations printed at the start of Section A, QP 2018–2025. Totals and averages are ours.
There are about 7 minutes of audio for 30 marks in a 50-minute section, so most of the time goes on replaying, pausing and writing.
Q3 is always the longest single recording (about twice Q1 or Q2). Total length grew from 6:32 (2019) to 7:53 (2024), then fell to 6:44 in 2025.
3.5 How the marks are split
| Series | Q2 marks per item | Q3 marks per item | Q4(a) marks per item | Open items | 1 / 2 / 3-mark items |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 1, 2, 1, 1 | 2, 1, 1, 1, 3, 1 | 2, 1, 2, 1 | 14 | 9 / 4 / 1 |
| 2019 | 2, 1, 2 | 1, 1, 2, 2, 1, 1, 1 | 1, 2, 1, 2 | 14 | 8 / 6 / 0 |
| 2020 | 1, 2, 1, 1 | 1, 2, 1, 1, 1, 3 | 2, 2, 2 | 13 | 7 / 5 / 1 |
| 2021 | 2, 1, 2 | 1, 2, 1, 2, 2, 1 | 1, 2, 1, 2 | 13 | 6 / 7 / 0 |
| 2022 | 1, 1, 2, 1 | 2, 2, 1, 2, 1, 1 | 2, 1, 1, 2 | 14 | 8 / 6 / 0 |
| 2023 | 2, 1, 1, 1 | 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 3 | 1, 1, 2, 1, 1 | 15 | 11 / 3 / 1 |
| 2024 | 1, 1, 1, 2 | 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2 | 1, 1, 2, 1, 1 | 15 | 10 / 5 / 0 |
| 2025 | 2, 2, 1 | 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2 | 1, 2, 2, 1 | 13 | 6 / 7 / 0 |
| Total | 111 | 65 / 43 / 3 |
Source: marks in brackets, QP 2018–2025. Q1 (4 × 1 mark) and Q4(b) (6 × 1 mark) are the same every year and are not included.
Of the 160 open-question marks across eight series, 86 (54 %) come from 2-mark items and 9 from the three 3-mark items. So more than half the open marks depend on the rules in 2.6.
32 of the 43 two-mark items say Da dos ideas. The other 11 need two ideas without saying so: Cita dos… (2019, 2021), ¿Qué diferencia hay…? (2018), Explica la diferencia… (2021), ¿Quién…? Y ¿por qué? (2021), (i) antes… (ii) después… (2021), ¿Por qué menciona… las cifras 150 y 28? (2022), ¿Cuáles son los dos puntos de vista…? (2024), ¿Qué ayuda…? Y ¿cómo? (2025), and change questions (2018 3a, 2019 4a ii).
Da tres ideas appeared three times, always in Q3 (2018 3e, 2020 3f, 2023 3f).
Da dos ideas per series: 2018 2, 2019 4, 2020 5, 2021 3, 2022 5, 2023 3, 2024 4, 2025 6.
Questions follow the order of the recording, and in Q4(b) the bullet points follow what each speaker says, in order (MS transcripts 2018–2025).
3.6 Question wordings
How the 111 open items in Q2–Q4(a) begin:
| Opening | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ¿Qué…? / ¿Cuál(es)…? | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 59 |
| ¿Por qué…? / ¿Para qué…? | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 20 |
| ¿Cómo…? / ¿De qué manera…? | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 12 |
| ¿Quién(es)…? / ¿A quién…? | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| ¿Cuánto(s)…? / ¿A qué se refiere la cifra…? | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 |
| Cita… / Menciona… / Explica… | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| ¿Dónde…? / ¿Adónde…? / ¿En qué lugares…? | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Other (¿Hasta qué punto…? ¿son positivos o negativos?) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Items | 14 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 13 | 111 |
Source: our count from QP 2018–2025.
Wordings that keep coming back, and what they need:
| Wording | Times | What students need to do |
|---|---|---|
| Según [el experto / la señora / Carmen]… | 16 | Give that speaker’s view, in the third person |
| ¿Por qué se menciona(n)…? (animals, food, Pepito Pérez, Romania, figures…) | 9 | Say what role the detail plays, not just repeat it (2018 2c: pasear perros alone failed) |
| ¿Qué (se) dice [X] sobre…? | 7 | Pick out the specific point(s) the speaker makes |
| Change / difference / comparison (¿Cómo ha cambiado…? ¿Qué diferencia…? ¿En qué se parecen / diferencian…? ¿Cómo se compara…?) | 14 | Give both sides or both states (2.6) |
| Aparte de… | 4 | Exclude the point already given (2018 3c; 2021 3f; 2022 2c; 2023 4a iii) |
| Two-part questions: ¿Quién…? Y ¿por qué? / ¿Qué…? Y ¿cómo? / (i) antes… (ii) después… | 3 | Answer both parts; each part is a mark (2021 3d, 3e; 2025 3f) |
Source: our count from QP 2018–2025. Change/comparison: 2018 3a, 4a iii; 2019 4a ii; 2021 2c, 3a, 3e; 2022 3e, 4a iv; 2023 3b, 3c, 3e; 2024 3f, 4a iv; 2025 3b.
3.7 Numbers as a tested item
| Series, item | Question | On the recording | What was needed / what went wrong |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 4a(i) (1) | ¿A qué se refiere la cifra «27»? | 27 (%) | The unemployment rate of immigrants; taza for tasa failed (ER 2019) |
| 2022 2a (1) | ¿A cuántos turistas…? | casi 5 millones | More than / at least 5 million; 5 millones rejected (MS, ER 2022) |
| 2022 3d (2) | ¿Por qué menciona… las cifras 150 y 28? | 150 companies; 28 companies | Franco family on 150 boards AND son-in-law paid by 28; yerno often missed (ER 2022) |
| 2023 2d (1) | ¿Cuántos inmigrantes han llegado hoy…? | una decena | About 10 (9–12 accepted); 100s, 1000s wrong (MS, ER 2023) |
| 2024 2a (1) | ¿A qué se refiere precisamente la cifra 16 %? | 16 % | Increase + money + tourism, all three (ER 2024) |
| 2024 2c (1) | ¿Cuánto aporta cada habitación…? | casi 75 euros | 75 €; 65 and increased by 75 wrong (ER 2024) |
| 2024 3b (2) | ¿Qué dice la señora sobre el número de inmigrantes…? | casi 10 000 … hoy; el doble | Number with a time frame: hoy, el próximo mes (ER 2024) |
| 2024 4a(i) (1) | ¿Por qué sorprende el número de móviles…? | 20,75 million phones, 18 million people | More phones than people (MS 2024) |
| 2024 4a(iii) (2) | ¿Por qué se menciona el número 65? | 65 % | 65 % use the Internet AND the figure has risen (MS 2024) |
| 2025 4a(ii) (2) | ¿Por qué se menciona el 8 %? | 8 % | Current figure AND blended families with under-18s (ER 2025) |
| 2025 4b(i) (1) | Summary bullet: la edad de los hijos | de 10 a 16 años | 10–16; 17 or 18 wrong (ER 2025) |
11 items worth 15 marks have turned on a number: none in 2018, 2020 or 2021; 1 mark in 2019 and 2023; 3 in 2022; 7 of the 30 marks in 2024; 3 in 2025 (our count).
Numbers are rarely asked as a bare figure. Most questions ask what the number refers to, why it is mentioned, or need the word around it (casi, más de, hoy, ahora).
3.8 Question 1 (multiple choice)
Always four sentence starters with four endings A–D (QP 2018–2025).
Across the 32 answers, A, B, C and D are each correct exactly 8 times (MS 2018–2025, our count), so there is no letter to guess.
Reported results: average 3 out of 4 (ER 2018, 2019); “they often scored full marks” (ER 2022); “many candidates scored full marks” (ER 2023); “Most candidates were able to score at least 3 out of 4 marks” (ER 2024, 2025). The 2018 item students found hardest turned on the phrase hacer régimen (to diet) (ER 2018).
3.9 Question 4(b) summary bullet points
| Series | Speaker 1: bullet points | Speaker 2: bullet points |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Natalia: el inicio de su carrera; la familia; lo bueno de su trabajo | Sara: los cambios en la publicidad; mantenerse informada; la ilusión |
| 2019 | Sadik: su actitud al llegar a España; la ayuda que recibió; el futuro | Sara: el beneficio de sus primeros trabajos; cómo ayuda a otros; el conflicto que siente al ser inmigrante |
| 2020 | Tamara: las acciones de su empresa; su motivación para trabajar; sus sentimientos | David: sus motivos al elegir la carrera; los beneficios de esa profesión; su novia |
| 2021 | Elena: lo que atrae al turista; la relación entre sus exportaciones y el turismo; otro país | José: el coste de llevar vino a casa; el horario de los turistas; cómo gastan el dinero los turistas |
| 2022 | El director: la decisión de recrear el programa; cómo se comparan las ediciones; los participantes | Miriam: su filosofía personal; la frecuencia de las ediciones; el tratamiento de los participantes |
| 2023 | Lino: la progresión profesional de las mujeres; la opinión pública; la causa de la diferencia de salario | Sandra: la importancia de las madres; la vida laboral típica de un hombre; una solución a la desigualdad |
| 2024 | Magdalena: el uso de Internet; el material educativo; el objetivo de la comunicación diaria | Ana Lucía: el acceso a Internet; los hospitales; los pacientes |
| 2025 | Mario: la edad de los hijos; los sentimientos de los hijos; las maneras de educar a los hijos | Bárbara: los estilos de educación; la responsabilidad de los padres; las reglas |
Source: QP 2018–2025.
The bullet is usually a short noun phrase (los hospitales, otro país, su novia). Students have to work out what the speaker says about it. Feelings and attitudes appear in 5 of 8 series (actitud, conflicto, motivación, sentimientos, filosofía, ilusión).
The hardest bullets needed students to rearrange what they heard: José’s explanation of why tourists spend their money in hotels (2021), and los hospitales in 2024, where “few students managed to score … This was a high demand question that required candidates to switch around the information given in the text” (ER 2021, 2024). In 2025 “The summary section, Q04(b) proved more challenging than the comprehension questions in Q04(a)” (ER 2025).
3.10 How students performed
| Series | Q1 (4) | Q2 (5) | Q3 (9) | Q4 (12) | Items flagged as hardest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Average 3 | Average 2 or 3 | Common score 6 | Common score 8 | 1(i); 2(b); 3(b); 4a(iii) second mark |
| 2019 | Average 3 | Average 4 | Common 4 or 5 (“challenging text”) | Average 8 | 3(b) minorías; 3(c) negative |
| 2020 | — | “on the whole answered well” | (a) and (d) “much more of a challenge” | — | 2(d) (“Very few”); 3(a); 3(d) |
| 2021 | — | “on the whole answered well” | “Most parts … answered correctly” | 4b(i) done well | 3(d); 4b(ii) |
| 2022 | “often scored full marks” | (d) “very accessible” | “a challenging exercise” | 4a(i), (iii) almost always right | 2(b); 3(c); 3(f) |
| 2023 | “many … scored full marks” | “generally well answered” | (b) almost always right | Many scored well on 4(a) | 3(c) “high demand” |
| 2024 | Most at least 3 | — | Most parts “handled well” | “Many … scored well on the first part” | 4a(iv) nos sobrepasa; 4b(ii) hospitals |
| 2025 | Most at least 3 | “Most candidates scored well” | Most parts “handled well” | 4(b) harder than 4(a) | 3(c) “the most challenging”; 4b(i) |
Sources: ER 2018–2025. Figures are as reported; 2018 and 2019 are the only years with averages. The 2020 and 2021 series had “only a very small cohort” (ER 2020, 2021).
3.11 Why marks are lost: how many reports mention each cause
| Cause | Reports (of 8) | Years |
|---|---|---|
| A word misheard or written as a different word (2.2) | 8 | 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 |
| A required detail missing, or the answer too general (2.3, 2.7) | 8 | 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 |
| Summary too long or bullets not clearly separated (2.8) | 7 | 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 |
| Unclear subject, wrong person, or first person kept (2.4) | 7 | 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 |
| An answer that had to be worked out, not heard word for word | 6 | 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024, 2025 |
| Numbers misheard or not precise enough (2.7, 3.7) | 4 | 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 |
| Only one side of a change or comparison, or one idea given twice (2.6) | 4 | 2018, 2019, 2022, 2025 |
| Lifting words without adapting them to the question (2.5) | 4 | 2018, 2022, 2023, 2024 |
| Vocabulary not known (aptitudes, hacer régimen, minorías, peregrinos, espina dorsal, yerno) | 3 | 2018, 2019, 2022 |
| Negatives misheard or misread (no / nos; not wanting conflict vs not wanting to avoid it) | 2 | 2019, 2024 |
| Answers squeezed into margins or hard to read; questions left blank | 2 | 2022, 2023 |
Source: our count from ER 2018–2025, Section A comments and end-of-report advice.
4. How to support students
These are our suggestions, each aimed at one of the causes in 3.11.
4.1 An exam routine for each recording
Read all the questions for the passage first and circle the question word: what, why, who, how many, a change, a comparison. Note Da dos ideas, Aparte de, Según and two-part questions.
Listen once straight through without writing, to get the gist and who is speaking.
Listen again in short sections, pausing. Questions follow the order of the recording.
For any unfamiliar word, try splitting or joining it (medio / me dio, tras lados / traslados, no / nos) and ask whether your version is a real word that makes sense here.
Write the answer in the third person with a clear subject. Change mi / nuestro / yo to su / él / ella.
Check numbers and the words around them (casi, más de, hoy, el próximo mes, ahora).
For 2 marks, check the two ideas are different, or that a change / comparison has both sides. Put the idea you are surest of first.
For Q4(b), write one short phrase per bullet on its own line, starting with the bullet’s key word.
Cold-reader check: would someone who has not heard the recording understand the answer, and does it answer this exact question?
4.2 Classroom activities
Mishearing bank: play the lines from 2.2, or read them aloud from the transcripts, and ask students what they hear before showing both versions. Add your own class’s mishearings as they come up.
Dictation of tricky chunks: short dictations built around word-boundary traps, similar numbers (seis / siete, sesenta / setenta, dieciséis) and no / nos.
First-person to third-person drill: give transcript sentences (Me fui a Londres para mejorar mi inglés) and have students rewrite them as answers about the speaker.
Targeted or untargeted? Give a question and three lifts of different lengths from the MS Accept/Reject columns (e.g. 2022 2a, 2c). Students decide which scores and why.
Summary in six lines: play a Q4(b) recording, students write one phrase per bullet, maximum eight words each. Then compare with the mark scheme. Use the 2023 examples in 2.8 to show what happens to a long answer.
Change and comparison pairs: for every cambio or diferencia question, students must write an antes line and an ahora line.
“Why is it mentioned?” For each number or named detail in a transcript, students write what it tells us (as in 2019 4a i, 2024 4a iii, 2025 4a ii).
Self-marking with real mark schemes: the 2025 mark scheme also gives the “Key ideas” for each answer in English (MS 2025), which makes it easier for students to use.
4.3 Listening diet
Short news reports, radio and TV items on immigration, tourism, the media and technology, work and equality, and family (3.2).
Historical audio and first-hand memories of the Civil War, Franco and the Transition, including older recordings.
Some Latin American voices (Mexico, Colombia, Central America).
Interviews with two or more speakers, so students practise following who is talking; every Q4(b) has three voices.
A vocabulary list of words that have caught students out: aptitudes, hacer régimen, destrezas, coser, tasa, minorías, peregrinos, espina dorsal, yerno, decena, lealtad, traicionar, traslados. ER 2019 advises: “Learn the technical vocabulary connected with each sub-topic.”
4.4 Timing
Pearson recommends no more than 50 minutes for Section A and says “The marks for each question are shown in brackets – use this as a guide as to how much time to spend on each question” (QP 2018–2025).
Our suggestion, splitting 50 minutes by marks: Q1 about 7 minutes, Q2 about 8, Q3 about 15, Q4 about 20. This is not Pearson guidance.
Make sure every question is attempted. In 2022 “a significant number … missed whole sections of the paper” and “A few candidates left whole questions unanswered” (ER 2022).
5. Materials
| File (in Spanish/A Level/Past Papers) | Use |
|---|---|
| Paper 1 – [series] – Question Paper | Section A (Questions 1–4) for all 8 series, with passage lengths and rubrics |
| Paper 1 – [series] – Mark Scheme | Answers with Accept/Reject columns, and the full audio transcript at the end. Use the transcripts for dictation, mishearing and first-to-third-person activities |
| Paper 1 – [series] – Examiner Report | Section A comments at the start of each report, example student answers, and advice at the end |
The audio recordings themselves are not in these folders. From 2022 the papers say they are “downloaded at your centre” (QP 2022–2025), so they need to be obtained separately for classroom use.
Suggested use: 2018–2021 papers for teaching and practice with the transcripts; 2022–2025 papers for timed practice under exam conditions, as the 2021–2025 mark schemes print the full marking principles for Sections A and B (MS 2021–2025).