Specification at a glance
This
qualification is linear. Linear means that students will sit all their exams at the end of the
course.
Subject content
Assessment is set in the context of these three themes.
- Theme 1: People and lifestyle
- Theme 2: Popular culture
- Theme 3: Communication and the world around us
Assessments
GCSE French has a Foundation tier (grades 1–5) and a Higher tier (grades 4–9). Students must take all four question papers at the same tier. All question papers must be taken in the same series.
| Paper 1: Listening |
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What's assessed - Understanding and responding to spoken extracts comprising the defined vocabulary and grammar for each tier
- Dictation of short, spoken extracts
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How it's assessed - Written exam: 35 minutes (Foundation tier), 45 minutes (Higher tier)
- 40 marks (Foundation tier), 50 marks (Higher tier)
- 25% of GCSE
Recording controlled by the invigilator with built-in repetitions and pauses. Each exam includes 5 minutes’ reading time at the start of the question paper before the listening material is played and 2 minutes at the end of the recording for students to check their work. |
Questions - Section A – listening comprehension questions in English, to be answered in English or non-verbally (32 marks at Foundation tier and 40 marks at Higher tier)
- Section B – Dictation where students transcribe short sentences, including a small number of words from outside the prescribed vocabulary list (8 marks at Foundation tier and 10 marks at Higher tier)
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| Paper 2: Speaking |
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What's assessed - Speaking using clear and comprehensible language to undertake a role-play
- Carry out a reading aloud task
- Talk about visual stimuli
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How it's assessed - Non-exam assessment (NEA)
- 7–9 minutes (Foundation tier) + 15 minutes' supervised preparation time
- 10–12 minutes (Higher tier) + 15 minutes' supervised preparation time
- 50 marks (for each of Foundation tier and Higher tier)
- 25% of GCSE
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Questions
The format is the same at Foundation tier and Higher tier, but
with different stimulus materials for the role-play and the reading aloud task. For
the photo card task, the same photos are used at both tiers. - Role-play – 10 marks (recommended to last between 1 and 1.5 minutes at both tiers)
- Reading aloud task and short conversation – 15 marks (recommended to last in total between 2 and 2.5 minutes at Foundation tier and between 3 and 3.5 minutes at Higher tier)
- Reading aloud task: minimum 35 words of text at Foundation tier and 50 words at Higher tier
- Short unprepared conversation
- Photo card discussion – 25 marks ( recommended to last between 4 and 5 minutes in total at Foundation tier, and between 6 and 7 minutes in total at Higher tier)
- Response to the content of the photos on the card (recommended to last approximately 1 minute at Foundation tier and approximately 1.5 minutes at Higher tier)
- Unprepared conversation (recommended to last between 3 and 4 minutes at Foundation tier and between 4.5 and 5.5 minutes at Higher tier)
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| Paper 3: Reading |
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What's assessed - Understanding and responding to written texts which focus predominantly on the vocabulary and grammar at each tier
- Inferring plausible meanings of single words when they’re embedded in written sentences
- Translating from French into English
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How it's assessed - Written exam: 45 minutes (Foundation tier), 1 hour (Higher tier)
- 50 marks (for each of Foundation tier and Higher tier)
- 25% of GCSE
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Questions - Section A – reading comprehension questions in English, to be answered in English or non- verbally (40 marks)
- Section B – translation from French into English, minimum of 35 words at Foundation tier and 50 words at Higher tier (10 marks)
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| Paper 4: Writing |
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What's assessed - Writing text in the language in a lexically and grammatically accurate way in response to simple and familiar stimuli
- Translating from English into French.
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How it's assessed - Written exam: 1 hour 10 minutes (Foundation tier), 1 hour 15 minutes (Higher tier)
- 50 marks (for each of Foundation tier and Higher tier)
- 25% of GCSE
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Questions Foundation tier - Question 1 – student produces five short sentences in response to a photo (10 marks)
- Question 2 – student produces a short piece of writing in response to five compulsory bullet points, approximately 50 words in total (10 marks)
- Question 3 – student completes five short grammar tasks (5 marks)
- Question 4 – translation of sentences from English into French, minimum 35 words in total (10 marks)
- Question 5 (overlap question) – student produces a piece of writing in response to three compulsory bullet points, approximately 90 words in total. There is a choice from two questions (15 marks)
Higher tier - Question 1 – translation of sentences from English into French, minimum 50 words in total (10 marks)
- Question 2 – student produces a piece of writing in response to three compulsory bullet points, approximately 90 words in total. There is a choice from two questions (15 marks)
- Question 3 – Open-ended writing task (student responds to two bullets, producing approximately 150 words in total). There is a choice from two questions (25 marks)
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