The Department for Education has today launched a consultation seeking views on how it can make content of French, German and Spanish GCSEs “more accessible and motivating for students”.
Proposals include “streamlining” course content so that students will only be tested on what they have been taught, and so that exams will not include any grammar or vocabulary that students have not covered during lessons.
The consultation document states: “A precise specification of vocabulary and grammar to be taught is critical for those following a language GCSE course. The review also sought to reduce volume and make the course less burdensome for teachers and students.”
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The consultation will seek views on recommendations of an expert panel convened in 2019 to reform courses in the hope of increasing uptake - after the DfE admitted it was “struggling hugely’ with languages’ decline.
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It also followed a British Council Language Trends report, which said that almost three-quarters of teachers were concerned about the difficulty of MFL GCSE and A-level exams.
The consultation runs in parallel with a consultation by exam regulator Ofqual seeking views on how it might subsequently review and revise assessment arrangements for the exams.
Proposals include replacing the four assessment areas of speaking, reading, writing and listening (each of which carries 25 per cent of marks in the exam) with three different assessment areas.
The largest of these, carrying 45 per cent of marks, would require pupils to “understand and respond to written language in speaking and in writing” and would include a “read aloud task” and would require students to answer questions on a reading comprehension.
There would also be a section requiring pupils to “understand and respond to spoken language in speaking and in writing” (35 per cent) and a section in which students must “demonstrate knowledge and accurate application of the grammar and vocabulary prescribed in the specification”, which would carry 20 per cent.
Both consultations run for the next 10 weeks.
