Students at Isleworth & Syon can choose to carry on studying French at Key Stage 4 level. In GCSE French, we use the ‘Studio’ textbooks and electronic resources alongside games to engage students in the language.
The Edexcel GCSE specification covers the following themes. Students have already covered 5 modules in Year 9 and carry on in Year 10 and Year 11.
Specification Code: 1FR0
Level: GCSE
Examination Board: Edexcel
Curriculum
Theme 1: Identity and Culture
- Who am I? (relationships; when I was younger; what my family and friends are like; what makes a good friend; interests; socialising with friends and family; role models)
- Daily life (customs and everyday life; food and drink; shopping; social media and technology)
- Cultural life (celebrations and festivals; reading; music; sports; film and television)
Theme 2: Local area, Holiday and Travel
- Holidays (preferences; experiences; destinations)
- Travel and tourist transactions (travel and accommodation; asking for help and dealing with problems; directions; eating out; shopping)
- Town, region and country (weather; places to see; things to do)
Theme 3: School
- What school is like (school types; school day; subjects; rules pressure; celebrating success)
- School activities (school trips; events and exchanges)
Theme 4: Future aspirations, study and work
- Using languages beyond the classroom (forming relationships; travel; employment)
- Ambitions (further study; volunteering; training)
- Work (jobs; careers and professions)
Theme 5: International and global dimension
- Bringing the world together (sports events; music events; campaigns and good causes)
- Environmental issues (being “green”; access to natural resources)
Assessment
Students are assessed by a terminal examination at the end of Year 11. There is no coursework in this GCSE course. Students will be given mock examinations on a regular basis and will be assessed in at least one of the MFL skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing) each half-term.
The examinations are as follows:
Paper 1 – Listening
Listening examination – 35 minutes including 5 minutes reading time (foundation tier) / 45 minutes including 5 minutes reading time (higher tier) – 25% of GCSE grade
Paper 2 – Speaking
Speaking examination – 7-9 minutes plus 12 minutes preparation time (foundation tier) / 10-12 minutes plus 12 minutes preparation time (higher tier) – 25% of GCSE grade
Paper 3 – Reading
Reading examination including translation of French to English – 45 minutes (foundation tier) / 1 hour (higher tier) – 25% of GCSE grade
Paper 4 – Writing
Writing examination including translation of English to French – 1 hour 10 minutes (foundation tier) / 1 hour 20 minutes (higher tier) – 25% of GCSE grade
Progress & Preparation Activities (PPA)
Students will be required to complete PPA each week and each weekly task will be available to view on the Insight App.
Further Resources

The school has a subscription to The Day, an online news service for schools. Click the button to the right, then browse ‘Subjects’ in the top menu to find French resources.
Please see below for a number of resources to maximise students’ progress during their Year 10 curriculum.
- EuroNews – a great website to practise your listening skills!
- Quizlet – essential for learning core vocabulary.
- Pearson Active Learn – a key resource linked to the course textbooks.
- Duolingo – free app that provides the user with a ‘coach’ who reminds them every day to practise their language skills. Helps with pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar.
- YouTube – ideal to listen to French music. This is useful to develop listening skills.
- YouTube – search for Extr@. It is a soap made for language learners. There are around twenty episodes, which tell the story of people living in the same building. Really useful for listening skills and vocabulary enrichment.
- Linguascope – ask the teacher for the password! Great tool to revise vocabulary.
- BBC Bitesize – a good resource for practising listening skills.