AS Level: core German language skills + grammar (cases, tenses, word order, modal verbs) and topic areas. A Level extends to advanced grammar (subjunctive, passive, complex tenses), discursive essay writing and culture/society of the German-speaking world.
| Topic | Sub-Topic | Confidence (1–5) | Last Reviewed | Next Review |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AS1. Listening skills | Understanding main ideas and detail in spoken German | |||
| 1. Listening skills | Identifying speakers' attitudes, opinions and emotions | |||
| 1. Listening skills | Following extended dialogues, interviews and news reports | |||
| 1. Listening skills | Note-taking from authentic German audio | |||
| 1. Listening skills | Inferring meaning from tone, register and context | |||
| AS2. Reading skills | Reading authentic German texts (articles, blogs, literary extracts) | |||
| 2. Reading skills | Identifying main ideas, supporting detail and writer's purpose | |||
| 2. Reading skills | Distinguishing fact, opinion and bias | |||
| 2. Reading skills | Vocabulary in context; deducing meaning of unfamiliar words | |||
| 2. Reading skills | Summarising and synthesising information from multiple sources | |||
| AS3. Speaking skills | Presentation and discussion of a chosen topic | |||
| 3. Speaking skills | General conversation on familiar and current-affairs topics | |||
| 3. Speaking skills | Spontaneous use of a range of tenses and structures | |||
| 3. Speaking skills | Pronunciation, intonation and fluency | |||
| 3. Speaking skills | Justifying and defending opinions with examples | |||
| AS4. Writing skills | Responses to stimulus texts (summary, opinion, directed writing) | |||
| 4. Writing skills | Range of registers: formal letter, email, article, report | |||
| 4. Writing skills | Accurate use of cases, tenses and word order | |||
| 4. Writing skills | Cohesion: linking devices, paragraphing and discourse markers | |||
| 4. Writing skills | Editing and proofreading for accuracy | |||
| AS5. Core grammar (AS) | Case system: Nominative, Accusative, Dative, Genitive | |||
| 5. Core grammar (AS) | Verb tenses: present, perfect (Perfekt), imperfect (Präteritum), future, conditional | |||
| 5. Core grammar (AS) | Modal verbs (können, müssen, wollen, sollen, mögen, dürfen) | |||
| 5. Core grammar (AS) | Word order: main clauses, subordinate clauses, time-manner-place | |||
| 5. Core grammar (AS) | Separable and inseparable prefix verbs | |||
| AS6. AS topic areas | Family, relationships and youth issues | |||
| 6. AS topic areas | Education and the world of work | |||
| 6. AS topic areas | Health, leisure and lifestyle | |||
| 6. AS topic areas | Travel, tourism and the environment | |||
| 6. AS topic areas | Media, technology and communication | |||
| ↓ A Level content begins. Papers 3 & 4 build on AS Level material. AS content is assumed knowledge. | ||||
| A Level7. Advanced grammar (A Level) | Subjunctive (Konjunktiv I and II) — usage and forms | |||
| 7. Advanced grammar (A Level) | Passive voice (werden + past participle) and impersonal passive | |||
| 7. Advanced grammar (A Level) | Pluperfect, future perfect and conditional perfect tenses | |||
| 7. Advanced grammar (A Level) | Indirect speech (indirekte Rede) and sequence of tenses | |||
| 7. Advanced grammar (A Level) | Complex sentence structures with subordinate clauses and relative clauses | |||
| A Level8. Culture and society (A Level) | German-speaking societies: regional identity, migration, integration | |||
| 8. Culture and society (A Level) | Politics and citizenship in Germany, Austria and Switzerland | |||
| 8. Culture and society (A Level) | Arts, literature and cinema in the German-speaking world | |||
| 8. Culture and society (A Level) | Contemporary social issues: inequality, environment, technology | |||
| 8. Culture and society (A Level) | Discursive essay writing on cultural and societal themes | |||
| A Level9. A Level extended writing & research | Long-form essay structure: introduction, argument, counter-argument, conclusion | |||
| 9. A Level extended writing & research | Use of evidence and examples to support arguments | |||
| 9. A Level extended writing & research | Sophisticated vocabulary and idiomatic expression | |||
| 9. A Level extended writing & research | Stylistic variety: rhetorical questions, imagery, register shifts | |||
| 9. A Level extended writing & research | Independent research on German-speaking topics for the speaking task | |||
Use with our Past Paper Finder for Cambridge A Level German 9717 past papers.
Quick answers about this free revision checklist, how to use it for exam prep, and how it relates to the official syllabus.
This revision checklist mirrors the official Cambridge A Level German 9717 syllabus for the 2026 examination series. Every topic and sub-topic on the page is taken from the published syllabus document, so working through the list in order gives you full coverage of what your exam can assess. It is aligned to the AS & A Level tier expectations. For the authoritative version, always cross-check with the latest syllabus PDF on your exam board's website before your final revision push.
The number of top-level topic groups varies by subject, but you can see the exact count on this page — each major heading in the checklist corresponds to one syllabus topic group, and each row below it is a syllabus-level sub-topic. Use the confidence column (1–5) to flag which sub-topics need more work, and re-score yourself weekly to track real progress instead of guessing.
12–16 weeks of focused revision, working through one topic group per week with weekly past-paper practice, is a realistic target for most A Level students. Use this checklist to plan your weeks: filter by topics you have rated 1–3 and spend your first revision block there. Subjects with heavy practical or extended-writing components (e.g. sciences, English) need more past-paper time in the final block than the topic-by-topic phase.
Revise in roughly the order the syllabus lists the topics — exam boards build later topics on earlier ones, so taking them in syllabus order avoids gaps. Once you have rated every topic, switch to weakest-first: filter the checklist by confidence ≤ 2 and prioritise those topics in your next study block. This is more effective than re-revising topics you already score 4–5 on.
You can find past papers and mark schemes via Tutopiya's Past Paper Finder and on your exam board's official site. Once you have rated each sub-topic on this checklist, attempt past-paper questions on your weakest topics first — practising under timed conditions is the single best predictor of exam performance, more so than re-reading notes.
Use the Download CSV or Print PDF button at the bottom of the checklist. CSV opens in Excel, Numbers or Google Sheets so you can sort by confidence and re-arrange revision order. The PDF is print-ready for offline use. A free Tutopiya account is required for download — this also unlocks the matching topic resources, notes and worked examples on the Learning Portal.
Yes, the checklist itself is free — you can view, score and re-score every topic on this page without an account. The CSV / PDF downloads and access to matching Tutopiya Learning Portal resources require a free account. There is no payment required at any point; teachers and parents can also use this checklist freely with their students.
Yes. The topics and sub-topics on this page are drawn from the current 2026 Cambridge A Level German 9717 specification published by Cambridge. Exam boards occasionally tweak weighting or assessment structure mid-cycle, so do a quick sanity-check against the official syllabus PDF when you start your revision and again 4 weeks before the exam.