Languages
AQA German/French/Spanish/Urdu GCSE
Students are assessed on the following topic areas:-
- Identity and culture
- Local, national, international and global areas of interest
- Current and future study and employment
Students are assessed in all four skills Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking at the end of Year 11.
They are entered for either Foundation or Higher Tier for all skills. You cannot mix and match
Listening exam: 25% of total marks
Foundation Tier: 35 mins
Higher Tier: 45 mins
Reading exam: 25% of total marks
Foundation Tier: 45 mins
Higher Tier: 60 mins
Speaking exam: 25% of total marks
Foundation Tier: 7-9 mins
Higher Tier: 10-12 mins
Role Play
Photo Card
General Conversation
Written Exam: 25% of total marks
Foundation Tier: 1 hour
Q1: Message
Q2: Short passage
Q3: Translation from English into German/French/Spanish/Urdu
Q4: Structured writing task
Higher Tier: 1 hour 15 mins
Q1: Structured Writing task
Q2: Open-ended writing task
Q3: Translation from English into German/French/Spanish/Urdu
Course Overview
German
In Year 10, students have three hours of German a week. They work from the Stimmt Foundation or Higher Textbook covering the topics listed below. They are assessed in all four skills: Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing at the end of each unit.
- Autumn 1: Grammar recap
- Autumn 2: School
- Spring 1: Hobbies and interests
- Spring 2: Family and friends
- Summer 1: Home life, food, drink and staying healthy
- Summer 2: Town and travel
Spanish
In Year 10, students have three hours of Spanish a week. They work from the ¡Viva! Foundation or Higher Textbook covering the topics listed below. They are assessed in all four skills: Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing at the end of each unit.
- Autumn 1: Holidays
- Autumn 2: School and future plans
- Spring 1: Family and friends
- Spring 2: Hobbies and interests
- Summer 1: Town
- Summer 2: Festivals, food and drink
French
In Year 10, students have three hours of French a week. They work from the Studio Foundation or Higher textbook covering the topics listed below.
- Autumn: Grammar recap. Me, my family, free time.
- Spring: Music, technology, reading and TV. Food, daily life and special occasions
- Summer: Your town and area
Urdu
In Year 10, students have three hours of Urdu a week. They cover the following topics and are assessed in all four skills at the end of each unit.
- Autumn 1: Health
- Autumn 2: Relationships and Choices: Marriage, Friends and Family
- Spring 1: Leisure
- Spring 2: Holidays
- Summer 1: Home and local area
- Summer 2: Environment
How parents can support and useful links:
- Test your child in preparation for their weekly vocabulary and grammar tests.
- Encourage your child to use websites like www.quizlet.com to create flashcards of their GCSE vocabulary. This can also be downloaded as an app onto phones and ipads so that they can revise vocabulary on the go, little and often.
- Test your child on their conversation questions in preparation for their speaking assessments.
- Encourage your child to use websites like www.funwithlanguages.vacau.com (KS4 section) and www.memrise.com to revise the different topic areas.
Exam specification - http://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/languages
