Did you know that over two-thirds of English words originally come from the UK’s closest European neighbours, the French? As well as being a beautiful language of huge cultural significance, French is also a key language of business, tourism and international relations. Spoken by 200 million people worldwide, French remains the first language sought by UK employers. If you enjoy communicating with other people, finding out how language works and learning about different countries and cultures, studying GCSE French is an excellent choice for you!
Course Content and Assessment
The Course: This is not a beginners’ course, but rather builds on pupils’ prior learning in French (usually a minimum of two years). It is a two-year GCSE programme, based on the Studio text book and supplemented with other materials including web-based resources, such as thisislanguage.com, Quizlet and our online language laboratory, Schoolshape. Pupils will learn how to produce and understand both spoken and written French on a range of relevant topics including leisure, travel, school and many more. Most of the lessons will be taught in French.
Assessment: The GCSE courses for Modern Languages have just been re-designed and there will be four exams at the end of the course, each worth 25% of the overall marks. These will test the skills of Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing. (There is no longer any coursework or controlled assessment.) There are two tiers of entry, Higher and Foundation, and each pupil will need to sit all of their papers at the same level, though there will certainly be an overlap so that candidates on the borderline between the two will not be disadvantaged.
Higher Line and Higher Education Options: Pupils who wish to study French in Higher Line should normally have achieved a grade 7, 8 or 9 at GCSE (or equivalent), but exceptional cases will always receive due consideration. Many universities consider languages to be an important subject and excellent preparation for a wide range of degree courses. Pupils who continue with French in Higher Line may go on to combine the study of the language with a commercial or other subject at university, and their language skills give them a major advantage when seeking employment.