GCE A Level Chinese Paper 2 Amendment
From summer 2026 onwards, students and teachers will benefit from two amendments made to our A level Chinese qualification.
In Paper 1 (Reading and listening comprehension):
Questions and responses to listening and reading comprehension tasks will now appear in English. Students are required to respond in English.
In Paper 2 (Response to set works):
- Questions about the set works will now appear in both Chinese and English. Students are still required to respond in Chinese.
- Two additional set works have been introduced to the Specification; one literary work and one film.
- There will be an option (b) for each set work question in Paper 2, allowing greater choice for students.
For both Paper 1 and 2, the Sample assessment materials are updated into separate question and answer booklets, matching the format of live assessment papers.
Why this matters
These changes reflect the feedback you’ve shared, giving more choice to students. The amendment to increase optionality in Paper 2 builds on the first amendment announced in July 2024, which introduced English questions for Papers 1 and 2 for first assessment in 2026.
Support and next steps
The updated Specification and Sample assessment materials illustrate all the changes.
Support materials for the new set works will be available soon on the Teaching and Learning page of our website.
If you have any questions, email us at teachinglanguages@pearson.com – we’re here to help.
Subject advisor
Rebecca Waker
Languages
