Summer 2022 exams: everything you need to know

For our GCSE language exams, the following arrangements have been confirmed for summer 2022:

Advance information (applies to all our language GCSEs)
To make exams in 2022 less daunting, students will be told in advance the topic areas that will be included in the exam papers, helping them to manage their exam preparation. This information will be issued in the spring term to help students to focus their revision time.

However, the DfE have confirmed that if the impact of the pandemic worsens, this information could be issued earlier in the academic year. We will update you on the timing of the advance information release once this has been confirmed.

Advance information guidance has now been published for each languages qualification to which it applies. Please check the 'summer 2022 support' tab on the subject qualification page that is relevant to you or download links to the guidance across all our languages qualifications here.

In addition, the following arrangements apply to all our GCSE qualifications, with the exception of GCSE Biblical Hebrew:

Optionality
We will include an additional optional question (Question 2) in the Foundation Writing assessment to provide students with a choice of themes for this question. We will add five minutes to the Foundation Writing assessment to account for this extra optionality.

The questions with no optionality in the Writing papers (Question 1 and Question 4 in the Foundation paper; Question 3 in the Higher paper) will not cover Theme 5 – International and global dimension.

Speaking exams
As detailed in the NEA and fieldwork consultation, formal speaking tests are expected to resume in 2022 and teachers should prepare to assess Speaking in the normal way.

If public health restrictions prevent this from happening, the speaking endorsement approach adopted in 2021 will be implemented again in 2022. Teachers are therefore asked to have regard to the speaking endorsement assessment criteria throughout the year.

Vocabulary
The NEA consultation also confirmed that we will not be required to use words outside of the vocabulary lists in our assessments in 2022. Where a word from outside the vocabulary list cannot be avoided, it will be glossed. This will apply to our Listening and Reading assessments.

Support
You can find the support which we currently have available for teaching and learning in each subject by clicking on the summer 2022 support tab on the relevant subject page. This includes example questions showing the changes to the Listening, Reading and Writing papers outlined above, so you can see what they look like in practice, and a speaking endorsement resource pack to help you prepare for the Speaking contingency arrangements.

The following arrangements have been confirmed for summer 2022 for International GCSEs:

Advance information (applies to all International GCSEs with the exception of English as a Second Language)
To make exams in 2022 less daunting, students will be told in advance some of the topic areas that will be included on the exam papers, to help them manage their exam preparation. This information will be issued in the spring term to help students focus their revision time.

However, the DfE have confirmed that if the impact of the pandemic worsens, this could be issued earlier in the academic year. We will update you on the timing of the advance information release once this has been confirmed.

Advance information guidance has now been published for each languages qualification to which it applies. Please check the 'summer 2022 support' tab on the subject qualification page that is relevant to you or download links to the guidance across all our languages qualifications here.

Speaking exams (applies to all International GCSEs which include a compulsory or optional Speaking exam)
As detailed in the NEA and fieldwork consultation, formal Speaking tests are expected to resume in 2022 and teachers should prepare to assess Speaking in the normal way. If public health restrictions prevent this from happening, the speaking endorsement approach adopted in 2021 will be implemented again in 2022. Teachers are therefore asked to have regard for the speaking endorsement assessment criteria throughout the year. 

Vocabulary (applies to International GCSEs in Chinese, French, German and Spanish)
The NEA consultation also confirmed that we will not be required to use words outside of the vocabulary lists in our assessments in 2022. Where a word from outside the vocabulary list cannot be avoided, it will be glossed. This will apply to our Listening, Reading and Writing assessments. 

Support
When May/June 2022 Support materials become available they will be posted under the course materials tab on each subject page.

For A level Modern Foreign Languages, the following arrangements have been confirmed for summer 2022:

Advance information

To make exams in 2022 less daunting, students will be told in advance some of the topic areas that will be included on the exam papers, helping them to manage their exam preparation. This information will be issued in the Spring term to help students to focus their revision time.

However, the DfE have confirmed that if the impact of the pandemic worsens, this could be issued earlier in the academic year. We will update you on the timing of the advance information release once this has been confirmed.

Advance information guidance has now been published for each languages qualification to which it applies. Please check the 'summer 2022 support' tab on the subject qualification page that is relevant to you or download links to the guidance across all our languages qualifications here.

Please also refer to our FAQ page and our Summer 2022 support page. 

FAQ page

Summer 2022 support page

There are no adjustments and there is no advance information for the International A level examinations in May/June 2022.

Students have opportunities to sit International A level examinations in the January, May/June and October/November series. Due to the modular approach of these qualifications, we have decided the fairest and most consistent approach for students is to continue running them as a regular series.