German — Solihull Sixth Form College

German

Why study German?
  • You enjoy communicating with others.
  • You want to learn more about other cultures, including films, TV and literature.
  • You might like to work abroad in the future.
  • You wish to increase your employability: language specialists usually get preference over other candidates of identical ability who don’t have a language.
  • Whatever you decide to do as a career, it is highly likely that you will one day find yourself working for a multinational company or for a firm with connections abroad: in Germany, Austria or Switzerland.
  • The demand by companies for executives, management, scientists and sales people to be multilingual is ever increasing. Employers say they want people with skills such as engineering, law, chemistry, etc, who can also speak a foreign language.
Why study German at Solihull Sixth Form College?

You will develop language skills in a wide variety of ways, making full use of our two Multi-Media Language Labs and drawing on a range of sources from course books to the Internet. In class you will carry out a lot of pair and group work designed to build up your communicative skills. We have a range of interactive exercises including vocabulary learning and listening work. Each week, in addition to mainstream lessons, you will have contact with a native speaker through small group conversation sessions. We ‘bridge the gap’ from GCSE to A level with considerable study skills support, and by Year 13 learners are able, for example, to write confident summaries of news items in lunchtime workshop sessions. We run trips and visits both within the UK and to Germany including recently joining the History department on a trip to Berlin. Learners can also undertake a work experience placement in Germany via Blue Stamp Travel. This is a post-GCSE course.

Course Outline

There are 3 components:
Speaking unit: 21-23 minute discussion with examiner including 5 minute preparation time.
Listening, Reading and Translating: Comprehension recordings and texts based on authentic material.
Writing: 2 essays in German on a book and a film.

Assessment

No Coursework
Examination (100%)
Examining Board – Eduqas.

Special Entry Requirements

You need to have at least grade 5 in GCSE German and must have done Higher Level. The great majority of entrants have grade 6 or better. These requirements are in addition to our standard A level entry requirements.

Prohibited Options

Languages can be combined with any subject at A level. Studying two languages is a particularly good option.

What do our learners go on to do?

Learners progress to a wide variety of destinations. Typically at least 50% take a degree involving languages, often combining German with another subject such as a second language or Law, English, Business, Tourism, or indeed a wide range of other disciplines. Learners going on to employment or training progress into areas such as retail and leisure and tourism.

Cost Implications

Our trips within the UK can cost up to £50 and trips abroad can be up to £700. You will also need to buy the set text in German (approx. £10).

Complementary Subjects or Enrichment Courses

We run a beginners’ language short course in Spanish. In addition, we have a close link with a company in Frankfurt (Continental-Teves): we visit the company for an afternoon during our German exchange. One of our ex-students recently completed a placement at the company during his degree course as part of his year abroad and the company has offered other learners of ours the chance to complete a work placement with them.

This information is correct for September 2024 entry.

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