IB Spanish B HL study guide
IB Spanish B HL · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
IB Spanish B Higher Level is the advanced language-acquisition course in the IB Diploma Programme, designed for students who already have a working command of Spanish and want to use it with precision across real-world and literary contexts. It is not a beginner course: HL candidates are expected to handle authentic texts and speech, produce extended written texts in appropriate registers, and discuss a literary work with confidence. The IB Spanish B HL study guide has 6 sections and about 2,302 words.
01Receptive skills - reading comprehension of authentic written texts
Reading is the second half of Paper 2 (HL: two hours in total for listening plus reading; reading is worth 25% of the final grade). You meet several authentic texts - news articles, opinion columns, interviews, blogs, leaflets, and at HL at least one more literary or abstract text - anchored in the five themes (identities, experiences, human ingenuity, social organisation, sharing the planet).
411 words, about 2 min02Receptive skills - listening comprehension of authentic spoken texts
Listening is the first half of Paper 2 (about one hour at HL, 25% of the final grade). You hear several authentic recordings - interviews, phone calls, announcements, debates, radio features - each played twice, with questions following the order of the audio.
372 words, about 2 min03Written productive skills - task 1 (formal letter, article, report, blog)
In Paper 1 (1 hour 30 minutes at HL) you choose one of three tasks and write 450–600 words. Each task specifies a text type, an audience, a purpose and three bullet points.
365 words, about 2 min04Written productive skills - task 2 (argumentative or discursive text)
When the Paper 1 options include a discursive or argumentative text (essay, opinion column, contribution to a debate), the examiners are looking for a sustained line of reasoning, not a list of opinions. At HL you must select, order and weigh arguments, concede what is true on the other side, and reach a conclusion that follows from the evidence you gave.
403 words, about 2 min05Individual oral - presentation and discussion based on a literary extract
At HL the individual oral lasts 12–15 minutes and is worth 25%. It is recorded by your teacher and moderated externally.
403 words, about 2 min06Language in use and accuracy - grammar, vocabulary range, register and text conventions
There is no separate grammar paper: accuracy and range are assessed inside Paper 1 and the individual oral, and they decide borderline grades. Examiners look for variety of structures, control of the tense system, lexical precision and consistent register.
348 words, about 2 min