Specification at a glance

This qualification is linear. Linear means that students will sit all their exams and submit all their non-exam assessment at the end of the course.

Subject content

Core content

Students study all of the following themes on which the assessments are based:

Theme 1: Identity and culture

Theme 2: Local, national, international and global areas

Theme 3: Current and future study and employment

Assessments

GCSE Italian 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

What's assessed

Understanding and responding to different types of spoken language.

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

(Each exam includes 5 minutes’ reading time of the question paper before the listening stimulus is played.)

Questions

Foundation Tier and Higher Tier
  • Section A – questions in English, to be answered in English or non-verbally.
  • Section B – questions in Italian, to be answered in Italian or non-verbally.

Paper 2: Speaking

What's assessed

Communicating and interacting effectively in speech for a variety of purposes.

How it's assessed

  • Non-exam assessment
  • 7–9 minutes (Foundation Tier) + preparation time
  • 10–12 minutes (Higher Tier) + preparation time
  • 60 marks (for each of Foundation Tier and Higher Tier)
  • 25% of GCSE

Questions

Foundation Tier and Higher Tier

The format is the same at Foundation Tier and Higher Tier, but with different stimulus questions for the Photo card and different stimulus materials for the Role-play. The timings are different too:
  • Role-play – 15 marks (2 minutes at Foundation Tier; 2 minutes at Higher Tier)
  • Photo card – 15 marks (2 minutes at Foundation Tier; 3 minutes at Higher Tier)
  • General conversation – 30 marks (3–5 minutes at Foundation Tier; 5–7 minutes at Higher Tier)

Paper 3: Reading

What's assessed

Understanding and responding to different types of written language.

How it's assessed

  • Written exam: 45 minutes (Foundation Tier), 1 hour (Higher Tier)
  • 60 marks (for each of Foundation Tier and Higher Tier)
  • 25% of GCSE

Questions

Foundation Tier and Higher Tier
  • Section A – questions in English, to be answered in English or non-verbally.
  • Section B – questions in Italian, to be answered in Italian or non-verbally.
  • Section C – translation from Italian into English (a minimum of 35 words for Foundation Tier and 50 words for Higher Tier).

Paper 4: Writing

What's assessed

Communicating effectively in writing for a variety of purposes.

How it's assessed

  • Written exam: 1 hour (Foundation Tier), 1 hour 15 minutes (Higher Tier)
  • 50 marks at Foundation Tier and 60 marks at Higher Tier
  • 25% of GCSE

Questions

Foundation Tier
  • Question 1 – message (student produces four sentences in response to a photo) – 8 marks.
  • Question 2 – short passage (student writes a piece of continuous text in response to four brief bullet points, approximately 40 words in total) – 16 marks.
  • Question 3 – translation from English into Italian (minimum 35 words) – 10 marks.
  • Question 4 – structured writing task (student responds to four compulsory detailed bullet points, producing approximately 90 words in total) – there is a choice from two questions – 16 marks.
Higher Tier
  • Question 1 – structured writing task (student responds to four compulsory detailed bullet points, producing approximately 90 words in total) – there is a choice from two questions – 16 marks.
  • Question 2 – open-ended writing task (student responds to two compulsory detailed bullet points, producing approximately 150 words in total) – there is a choice from two questions – 32 marks.
  • Question 3 – translation from English into Italian (minimum 50 words) – 12 marks.