GCSE French

Paper 1: Listening and understanding in French

25% of the total qualification

Content overview
This paper draws on vocabulary and structures across all the themes and topics.

Assessment overview
Students are assessed on their understanding of standard spoken French by one or more speakers in a range of public and social settings. Students will respond to multiple-response and short-answer open response questions based on a recording featuring male and female French speakers.
Students must answer all questions in both sections. There is no requirement for students to produce written responses in French.

Foundation tier

Section A is set in English. The instructions to students are in English.

Section B is set in French. The instructions to students are in French.

Higher tier

Section A is set in French. The instructions to students are in French.

Section B is set in English. The instructions to students are in English.

Written examination

Foundation tier: 35 minutes including 5 minutes’ reading time; 50 marks.

Higher tier: 45 minutes including 5 minutes’ reading time; 50 marks.

Paper 2: Speaking in French

25% of the total qualification

Content overview

This paper draws on vocabulary and structures across all the themes and topics.

Assessment overview

Students are assessed on their ability to communicate and interact effectively through speaking in French for different purposes and in different settings. There are three tasks which must be conducted in the following order:

Task 1 – a role play based on one topic that is allocated by Pearson.
Task 2 – questions based on a picture stimulus based on one topic that is allocated by Pearson.
Task 3 – conversation based on two themes. The first theme is based on the topic chosen by the student in advance of the assessment. The second theme is allocated by Pearson.

The assessments are conducted by teachers in one session within a five week prescribed
assessment period and the recordings then submitted to Pearson for external marking.

Foundation tier: 7–9 minutes plus 12 minutes’ preparation time; 70 marks.

Higher tier: 10–12 minutes plus 12 minutes’ preparation time; 70 marks.

(Internally conducted and externally assessed)

Paper 3: Reading and understanding in French

25% of the total qualification

Content overview

This paper draws on vocabulary and structures across all the themes and topics.

Assessment overview

Students are assessed on their understanding of written French across a range of different types of texts, including advertisements, emails, letters, articles and literary texts. Students are required to respond to multiple-response and short-answer questions based on these texts.
Students must answer all questions in each of the three sections:

Section A is set in English. The instructions to students in English.
Section B is set in French. The instructions to students in French.
Section C includes a translation passage from French into English with instructions in English.

Written examination

Foundation tier: 45 minutes; 50 marks.

Higher tier: 1 hour; 50 marks.

Paper 4: Writing in French

25% of the total qualification

Content overview

This paper draws on vocabulary and structures across all the themes and topics.

Assessment overview

Students are assessed on their ability to communicate effectively through writing in French for different purposes and audiences. Students are required to produce responses of varying lengths and types to express ideas and opinions in French. The instructions to students are in French. Word counts are specified for each question. Students must answer all questions.

Foundation tier – three open response questions and one translation into French.

Higher tier – two open response questions and one translation into French.

Written examination

Foundation tier: 1 hour 15 minutes; 60 marks.

Higher tier: 1 hour 20 minutes; 60 marks.