Trampas del Higher — Higher Writing Traps

❌ "Si tendría más tiempo..."

✅ "Si tuviera más tiempo, tendría..." — NEVER "si + conditional". The rule: si + imperfect subjunctive → conditional. "Si tendría" is the most penalised error in Higher writing.

Why: Spanish grammar requires the imperfect subjunctive after si in hypothetical sentences — the conditional is reserved for the result clause. "Si tendría" is grammatically impossible in standard Spanish and marks the response as below Higher level regardless of everything else.

❌ Using only simple sentences

✅ Connect ideas: not "Me gusta la ciudad. Hay parques." → "La ciudad en la que vivo tiene muchos parques, aunque a veces hay demasiado tráfico."

Why: Higher quality marks reward syntactic complexity. Simple sentence + simple sentence stays in Band 2. A relative clause or subordinate conjunction lifts the same content into Band 3 or 4 — same ideas, far higher mark.

❌ Crossing out with multiple lines or using correction fluid

✅ One neat line through the error, rewrite beside/below. Examiners cannot mark what they cannot see.

Why: AQA examiners mark what is legible on the page. Heavy crossing out or correction fluid makes text unreadable — the mark is lost even if the original word was correct. A single line keeps the correction visible and gradeable.