Languages
Changes to GCSE MFL papers from summer 2023
An update on Ofqual's consultation decision to extend vocabulary adaptations to GCSE Modern Foreign Language exam papers, with effect from May/June 2023 onwards.
Ofqual’s consultation on extending vocabulary adaptations, originally introduced for the summer 2022 series as an accessibility measure, has now concluded. As a result, the requirement for awarding bodies to use vocabulary that is not on the specification vocabulary lists for GCSE Modern Foreign Language assessments has been removed from summer 2023 onwards. In addition, this will allow exam boards to give the meaning of (gloss) unfamiliar vocabulary.
GCSE French, German and Spanish
For Paper 1 (Listening) and Paper 3 (Reading), all words outside the core vocabulary list in the specification, which are not cognates, will be removed. This applies to both Foundation and Higher tier papers.
These adaptations do not affect Paper 2 (Speaking) or Paper 4 (Writing) as the vocabulary in these papers is already drawn exclusively from the core vocabulary lists. These changes will apply for the lifetime of the current (2016) specifications.
GCSE Arabic, Chinese, Greek, Gujarati, Italian, Japanese, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Turkish and Urdu
For these languages we will be following a two-stage approach to adapting our assessments, due to the late notification of the required changes:
1. For summer 2023 all words outside the core vocabulary list in the specification will be glossed for Paper 1 (Listening) and Paper 3 (Reading), at both Foundation and Higher tiers.
2. From summer 2024 onwards, Paper 1 and Paper 3 will use only the core vocabulary list, as far as possible, with minimal use of glossing where unavoidable.
These adaptations do not affect Paper 2 (Speaking) or Paper 4 (Writing) as the vocabulary in these papers is already drawn exclusively from the core vocabulary lists. These changes will apply for the lifetime of the current specifications.
NB The 2016 GCSEs’ vocabulary lists were not required to be comprehensive and presumed prior knowledge from KS3 study. This removal/glossing will therefore not apply to commonly understood words such as those taught at KS3, which will continue to be included in the reading and listening texts as necessary. This is the same approach as used for the covid adaptations.
Subject advisor
Rebecca Waker
Languages
Subject updates
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May 2024 Languages Update
Dear Colleagues,
I hope your summer term has got off to a smooth start. By now many of you will have conducted your speaking exams and will be looking ahead to the written exams and beyond.
Please remember you can get in contact with all of your questions about Pearson Edexcel Languages qualifications. My contact details are at the bottom of this page.
Best wishes,
Rebecca Waker
Subject Advisor for Languages
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Listening and Reading Exam Scheduling from 2026
We can confirm that the reading and listening exams for GCSE French, German and Spanish will be scheduled in separate exam sessions from Summer 2026