Languages
2023 speaking windows confirmed
The prescribed speaking window dates for centres to conduct their Modern Foreign Language oral assessments have now been confirmed for the January 2023 and the May/June 2023 exam series.
January 2023 speaking window
The speaking window for language qualifications in the January 2023 exam is Friday 4 November to Friday 16 December 2022.
This window applies to International GCSE English as a Second Language and IAS/IAL French, German and Spanish only.
May/June 2023 speaking windows
| Qualification | Speaking window |
|---|---|
| GCSE (Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Gujarati, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Turkish and Urdu) |
17 April – 19 May 2023 |
| A level (Chinese, French, German, Italian, Russian and Spanish) |
17 April – 19 May 2023 |
| International A level (French, German and Spanish) This qualification is only available in international centres. |
17 April – 19 May 2023 |
| International GCSE (Chinese, French, German, Spanish) |
27 March – 2 June 2023 |
| International GCSE (English as a Second Language, Swahili) The speaking test is optional for these qualifications. |
27 March – 19 May 2023 |
Please note that the following Pearson-Edexcel qualifications do not feature any speaking test:
- A level: Arabic, Gujarati, Greek, Japanese, Persian, Portuguese, Turkish and Urdu
- International GCSE: Arabic (first language), Bangla, Greek (first language), Sinhala and Tamil
- International A level: Arabic and Greek
Submitting speaking assessments
All speaking recordings should be submitted via our online Learner Work Transfer (LWT) platform within 2 working days of completing the oral examinations for that language qualification in your centre.
If completing your speaking assessments on a Friday, for example, you would therefore need to submit them via LWT by the end of the following Tuesday. This enables us to ensure that assessments are allocated to our examiners throughout the window and avoids the marking of speaking assessments impacting on the marking of other language qualification components.
Guidance on submitting assessments via LWT is available on our website.
LWT guidance PowerPoint and recorded training for language qualifications
Subject updates
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March 2026 Languages Update
Welcome to the March 2026 Languages update. For some international qualifications, speaking exams are now getting underway, while for UK qualifications this is still a time to prepare and get everything in place.
Alongside speaking, this update also flags a small number of wider qualification updates and reminders worth knowing about now, with clear signposting to the support available, so you can focus on what matters most for you and your students.
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GCSE (2024) French, German and Spanish Digital Sequencing Tool
The Digital Sequencing Tool replaces the GCSE French, German and Spanish Sequencing Grids from the previous qualification.
From 2026 onwards, teachers will use this digital tool to create the individual sequences of tasks for each assessment.