What is GCSE French?

In the new GCSE French course, you will continue to develop your skills in listening, speaking, reading and writing French. You will also increase your understanding of the French-speaking world.

Course Detail

Qualification Exam Board Specification
GCSE French Pearson Edexcel 1FR1

Department Leader

Ms K Dris
Department Leader for French

Course Overview

The video below explains the different topics you will study on the French course:

 

You will study 6 topics across Y10 and Y11:

  1. My personal world
  2. Lifestyle and wellbeing
  3. My neighbourhood
  4. Media and technology
  5. Studying and my future
  6. Travel and tourism

 

Each of these topics covers the following crossover subtopics:

family friends relationships equality
physical well-being mental well-being food and drink sports
places in town shopping transport the natural world
environmental issues social media and gaming future opportunitues (eg work, travel) school
music TV and film accommodation tourist attractions

 

You will notice that we have already come across some subtopics such as Family, Friends, Food and Drink, Sports, School, Music, TV and Film and Tourist Attractions.

The exam process- How is it assessed?

You will take 4 final exams at the end of year 11. 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.

 

Speaking Listening
  • Foundation: 7-9 mins speaking time + 15 minutes preparation time, 50 marks (25% of GCSE)
  • Higher: 10-12 mins speaking time + 15 minutes’ preparation time, 50 marks (25% of GCSE)

 

Task 1: Read aloud (12 marks)

Read aloud a short text and undertake a short, unprepared interaction relating to the text. In the read aloud task itself, learners will be assessed on their pronunciation and in the short interaction that follows students will be assessed on their communication. The task card will be allocated by Pearson.

 

Task 2: Role play (10 marks)

Undertake a transactional role play, in a setting taken from the defined list on pages 16–17. The task card will be allocated by Pearson.

 

Task 3: Picture task (12 marks) with conversation (16 marks)

Students select their thematic context for Task 3 in advance of the assessment.

Students select one option from a choice of two of the six thematic contexts. The two options will be randomly generated by Pearson. The task card will be allocated by Pearson. Describe a picture stimulus, related to the selected thematic context. Students have a choice of two pictures on the stimulus card. Answer two compulsory questions related to the subject matter of the picture, then move on to a short unprepared conversation developed from the same thematic context.
  • Foundation: 45 minutes, 50 marks (25% of GCSE)
  • Higher: 1 hour, 50 marks (25% of GCSE)
    Both papers include 5 minutes reading time

 

Section A: Listening (40 marks)

Learners respond to multiple-choice, multiple-response and short-answer open response questions. All questions are set in English and students produce all responses in English.

 

Section B: Dictation (10 marks)

Learners are assessed on their ability to transcribe spoken French into written French. They will be rewarded for their accuracy of spelling based on their knowledge and understanding of the sound symbol correspondences (SSCs) listed in the specification in Appendix 2: Grammar.
Reading Writing
  • Foundation: 45 minutes, 50 marks
  • Higher: 1 hour, 50 marks

 

Section A: Reading and Understanding (40 marks)

Learners respond to multiple-choice, multiple-response and short-answer open response questions based on these texts. All questions are set in English and students produce all responses in English.

 

Section B: Translation into English (10 marks)

Learners translate a passage from French into English, with instructions in English.
  • Foundation: 1 hour 15 minutes, 50 marks (25% of GCSE)
  • Higher: 1 hour 20 minutes, 50 marks (25% of GCSE)

 

Foundation Tier

  • Question 1: picture-based task (8 marks)
  • Question 2: one of two open-response questions, set in formal context (14 marks)
  • Question 3: one of two open-response questions, set in informal context (18 marks)
  • Question 4: translation into French (10 marks)

 

Higher Tier

  • Question 1: one of two open-response questions, set in informal context (18 marks)
  • Question 2: one of two open-response questions, set in formal context (22 marks)
  • Question 3: translation into French (10 marks)

Lunchtime and after school sessions will be offered to help you prepare for the speaking tests.

With further training or study, learners may progress into a wide range of careers – a French GCSE opens up a range of career options and alongside the more obvious careers in travel and leisure / tourism, can also lead to careers in retail and business management, international trade, education, banking and law. Robert West, the head of Education and Skills at the CBI, said: “Employer demands for foreign language skills have significantly increased over the last few years.”

Got A Question?

If you have a question about French you can use the form below to contact Ms Dris, Department Leader for French.

[contact-form-7 id=”7816″ title=”Contact French Department”]

 

Updated: 27/01/2026