What's assessed ? 

• Understanding and responding to spoken extracts comprising the defined vocabulary and grammar for each tier.
• Dictation of short, spoken extracts

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)

What's assessed?

•  Speaking using clear and comprehensible language to undertake a Role-play 
• Carry out a Reading aloud task 
• Talk about visual stimuli 

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 

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)

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 are embedded in written sentences 
• Translating from French into English 

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 

Questions?

• Section A – reading comprehension questions in English, to be answered in English or nonverbally (40 marks) 
• Section B – translation from French into English, minimum of 35 words at Foundation tier and 50 words at Higher tier (10 marks)

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 

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 

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 (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) 
• 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)