At The British College of Gavà, the Modern Languages Department* strives to support all learners to develop their skills and confidence to become global and internationally minded citizens, able to speak to people in other languages, to understand, appreciate and respect their own and other cultures and to be able to have access to a wide range of opportunities both here in Catalonia and across the world. 

We celebrate diversity and many of our children come from different countries and speak different mother tongues, therefore it is not unusual for our students to speak three or four languages fluently by the time they reach Year 6. 

It is part of the school’s culture to encourage students to learn and develop fluency in several languages which are an ever-present part of our curriculum from EYFS to Sixth Form. 

At BCG there are different rewards,  language-related events and multiple opportunities for showcasing and celebrating student’s success. For example, we have our Linguists of the Week, our Language Ambassadors, Sant Jordi’s day, book presentations by famous authors or public speaking events.

*As English is the lingua franca, this language has its own dedicated department. 

Spanish, French and Catalan language periods

These are taught across the 2 week cycle: 

Nursery - English Only

Reception - 5 periods of Spanish 

Year 1 - 10 periods of Spanish 

Year 2  to Upper Primary - 8 periods of Spanish | 5 periods of French (from Year 3 onwards)  | 5 periods of Catalan

Years 7, 8 and 9 (Key Stage 3) - 8 periods of Spanish | 5 periods of French | 5 periods of Catalan

Years 10 and 11 (KS4)

8 periods of Spanish* | 8 periods of French (optional)* | 5 periods of Catalan

*Lengua & Literatura Castellana or IGCSE Spanish

*IGCSE French

Year 12 and Year 13 (Sixth Form)

All students need to choose a Language A and a Language B:

As an additional subject and not as part of the IB curriculum,  students can choose to study Catalan in order to get the C2 Mastery level Certificate or to validate the Spanish bachillerato.

Homologation and Validation - Spanish ESO & Bachillerato

Students must study all 3 Spanish subjects from the Spanish Section, from primary all the way up to Year 11. From Secondary onwards, this is only mandatory for Spanish Students. These subjects are: 

The ESO (Secondary Obligatory education in Spain) homologation is not required if a student wants to continue studying at an international school. Nonetheless, if they wish to do so, they  must follow specific requirements: 

A. To have passed (with a minimum 5 out of 10) the three subjects mentioned above  every year from Year 8 to Year 11.

B. To have passed  at least 4 IGCSE subjects with a result of 4 or more. 

The Spanish Bachillerato homologation is not required by any university worldwide because they all recognise the International Baccalaureate certification.

Frequently asked questions