Retention of GCSE Paper 4 Writing amendments

Following the highly positive feedback we received about the 2022 summer exam series, we would like to let you know that Ofqual have approved our request to retain the ‘optionality’ amendments made to the Modern Foreign Languages GCSE Paper 4, Writing.

In Summer 2023, and beyond, Paper 4 Writing will now include:

• A choice of two options for Question 2 on the Foundation Tier.
• An additional 5 minutes of assessment time on the Foundation Tier paper (originally 1 hour 10 minutes, now 1 hour 15 minutes for French, German and Spanish).
• Topic titles appearing in English on both Foundation and Higher Tier Writing papers.

This amendment will ensure that our Modern Language assessments remain as accessible as possible for students entering exams in 2023 and beyond, and is in addition to the amendments we previously announced in 2020 for French, German and Spanish qualifications.

Updated specifications and Sample Assessment Materials (SAMs) are now available on the subject pages for French, German and Spanish, and can be accessed using the links below.

Updated materials for other GCSE languages (Arabic, Chinese, Greek, Gujarati, Italian, Japanese, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Turkish, Urdu) will be published on the relevant qualification pages, under 'course materials', as soon as possible.

The amended papers will also be in line with the format of the Writing papers from the May/June 2022 series.

Find out more about the existing amendments