Theme 3: Education and work - Writing
Writing for Theme 3 covers school life and work experience: favourite and least favourite subjects with reasons, school rules and uniform, any part-time job or work placement completed, and plans and ambitions for the future.
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Method
- Read the bullets and note the tense each needs: present for opinions on subjects and rules, preterite for a placement or exam already completed, future (iré, estudiaré) or conditional (me gustaría) for plans.
- Plan subject-specific vocabulary (las matemáticas, la informática, la física) and at least one justified opinion per subject mentioned (se me da bien/mal plus porque).
- Build the response with a clear structure: current school life first, then the past experience (work placement or exam), then future plans, linking each with a connective (además, sin embargo, por lo tanto).
- Add a subordinate clause where natural, e.g. after a subject name (las matemáticas, que son mi asignatura favorita) or after an opinion (creo que, porque).
- For the higher-mark task, use an impersonal or conditional structure when giving a general opinion on education, e.g. sería mejor que hubiera más opciones, or es necesario tener buenas notas.
- Check subject names are feminine or masculine correctly (la geografía, el dibujo) and that the phrase se me da bien agrees with the subject doing the pleasing, not the person.
- Check accents on school vocabulary: matemáticas, física, química, inglés, and on future-tense endings (estudiaré, tendré) which all carry a written accent except the nosotros form.
Worked example
Write a short paragraph in Spanish for a careers newsletter. Mention: your favourite school subject and why; a part-time job or work placement you have done; what career you would like to have in the future.
- PLAN bullet 1: subject plus opinion verb plus reason - me encanta la historia porque el profesor la explica bien.
- PLAN bullet 3: choose a career and a reason using me gustaría plus infinitive plus porque.
- BUILD bullet 1 with a subordinate clause: Mi asignatura favorita es la historia, que estudio los martes y los jueves, porque me parece fascinante. The relative clause que estudio adds detail without a second sentence.
- BUILD bullet 2 in the preterite with a specific detail: El verano pasado, hice dos semanas de prácticas laborales en una oficina, donde aprendí a organizar reuniones.
- BUILD bullet 3 with the conditional and a justification: En el futuro, me gustaría trabajar como abogada porque quiero ayudar a la gente y creo que es una carrera con mucha satisfacción.
Practice questions
Try each question, then tap to reveal the answer.
Q1Give the yo present tense phrase for 'I am good at' and 'I am bad at' a subject.Show answer
Answer: se me da bien (I am good at it) and se me da mal (I am bad at it) - the verb dar agrees with the subject doing the pleasing, so with a plural subject it becomes se me dan bien las ciencias.
Q2Fill the gap with the correct preterite: El año pasado, ___ (hacer) dos semanas de prácticas en un hospital.Show answer
Answer: hice - irregular preterite of hacer: hice, hiciste, hizo, hicimos, hicisteis, hicieron.
Q3Correct the error: 'Me gustaria ser profesor porque me gusta ayudar a los ninos.'Show answer
Answer: Me gustaría ser profesor porque me gusta ayudar a los niños - gustaría needs an accent on the i, and niños needs the tilde on the n.
Q4Translate into Spanish: 'In the future, I would like to study medicine at university.'Show answer
Answer: En el futuro, me gustaría estudiar medicina en la universidad.
Q5Translate into English: 'Lo que más me gusta del instituto son los amigos, no las clases.'Show answer
Answer: What I like most about school is my friends, not the lessons.
Q6Give the Spanish for 'work experience' and 'part-time job'.Show answer
Answer: las prácticas laborales and un trabajo a tiempo parcial.
Q7Choose the correct connective: 'Saqué buenas notas en el examen, ___ mis padres estaban muy orgullosos.' (por eso / aunque)Show answer
Answer: por eso (so/therefore) shows the result of getting good grades; aunque (although) would introduce a contrast, which does not fit here.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a GCSE Spanish exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Write about school in Spanish. Answer all four bullet points in Spanish. Write approximately 40 words in Spanish. - your favourite subject and why - a subject you find difficult - a part-time job or work experience you have done - your opinion on school uniform
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Write an article in Spanish for your school website about education and future plans. You must mention: - your school and a subject you particularly like or dislike, with reasons - a part-time job or work experience placement you have done, including what you learned - what career you would like to have in the future, and why - your opinion on whether university is necessary for a good career nowadays
Show mark scheme
Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.
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See real GCSE Spanish past-paper questions, with official mark schemes →
Free printable worksheet
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