GCSE Spanish Speaking: Role-play and Photo Card, Popular Culture

The speaking exam of the reformed GCSE in Spanish (first exams in 2026) includes a role-play and a photo-based conversation. In AQA's version, for example, the role-play card sets five tasks in English, one of which asks you to ask a question, and the photo card shows two photos from one theme, which you describe before an unprepared conversation. This material rehearses both on the second theme, Popular culture: free-time activities, customs, festivals and celebrations, and celebrity culture.

In the oral exam you first receive a role-play card in English: you are buying concert tickets at a ticket office in Spain, and the examiner plays the ticket seller, in Spanish only. You say what you want, how many tickets, for which day, who your favourite singer is, and you ask the price. Short feedback in English follows. Then the photo card: the two photos, a festival in a town square and friends celebrating a goal at home, are described to you in English, because this is a text chat, and you describe them in Spanish. The conversation that follows is in Spanish, one question at a time: your free time, last weekend, your favourite festival, visiting a traditional festival in Spain, your favourite singer or sportsperson, whether celebrities are good role models, and, for developed answers, your ideal weekend in the conditional. A second role-play, planning a friend's birthday party with tú, is available if you want to continue.

The quiz focuses on the language of this theme: quisiera and the difference between una entrada and un billete, asking prices with the right verb agreement, days and dates, completing a two-part task, describing a festival photo with parece que and llevan ropa tradicional, answering a 'would like' question, giving an opinion on celebrities, connectives for contrast, and keeping the conditional going at Higher tier.

The flashcards collect the phrases you need for buying tickets, dates, describing festivals, giving opinions and developing answers. The written sheet asks you to write both role-plays in Spanish, describe the two photos, answer four conversation questions and explain how to develop a short answer, with model answers and marking points.

• Complete a transactional role-play: tickets, numbers, dates and prices
• Choose entrada or billete and use quisiera politely
• Describe festival and leisure photos with present continuous verbs and parece que
• Give and justify opinions on free time, festivals and celebrities
• Develop answers with reasons, detail, connectives and other time frames, including the conditional (Higher)

Practice material written by Zestly, based on the DfE GCSE modern foreign languages subject content (2022) and on the role-play and photo card tasks as described, for example, in AQA's GCSE Spanish specification (8692, version 1.0), Theme 2 Popular culture. The role-plays, photo descriptions and questions are original.