Consultation outcome

Revised GCSE qualifications in modern foreign languages

From:: Ofqual
Published: 10 March 2021
Last updated: 14 January 2022 — See all updates

Applies to England

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Assessment of revised qualifications in GCSE MFL (French, German and Spanish): decisions

Ref: Ofqual/22/6877/1

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Assessment of revised qualifications in GCSE MFL (French, German and Spanish): decisions

Ref: 6877/1

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Detail of outcome

We have decided to implement the proposals we set out in the consultation document.

The feedback that we received from respondents will be considered as we move to the next stage of work - to draft the detailed assessment requirements for exam boards in the Subject Level Conditions and the recommended approach to complying with those requirements in the Subject Level Guidance.

The arrangements for assessing the revised GCSEs in MFL (French, German and Spanish) will therefore be based on:

revised assessment objectives (AOs), which set out the percentage of qualification marks that must be awarded for each aspect of assessment
continued use of tiered assessments, requiring students to be entered to a single tier across all assessments
continued use of non-exam assessment (NEA) to focus on the assessment of speaking skills, which make up 25% of the total marks for the qualification

Feedback received

Assessment of revised qualifications in GCSE MFL (French, German and Spanish): response analysis

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Assessment of revised qualifications in GCSE MFL (French, German and Spanish): response analysis

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Detail of feedback received

We consulted on our assessment proposals at the same time as the DfE consulted on its proposed new content.

This is the summary of responses to our consultation on revised GCSE qualifications in modern foreign languages that ran from Wednesday 10 March to Wednesday 19 May 2021.

In this consultation, we sought views on the following proposed assessment arrangements, for revised GCSEs in MFL (French, German and Spanish):

revised assessment objectives (AOs), which denote the percentage of qualification marks that must be awarded for each aspect of assessment
maintaining tiered assessments, and requiring a single tier of entry, as in the current specifications, rather than permitting mixed tier entries across the assessments
maintaining the use of non-exam assessment (NEA) to assess speaking skills, as in the current specifications, which would count towards 25% of the total marks for the qualification

We received 1130 responses to this consultation.

Original consultation

Consultation description

The Department for Education (DfE) has launched a consultation on proposed changes to the subject content requirements for GCSE modern foreign language (MFL) qualifications in French, German and Spanish. This means that we need to review and if necessary revise the assessment arrangements to ensure they reflect the aims and requirements of the changed content.

This consultation is open to anyone who may wish to respond but may be of most interest to:

awarding organisations considering offering revised GCSE MFL qualifications in French, German and Spanish
teachers of GCSE MFL qualifications, AS and A level MFL qualifications and those in wider education with an interest in GCSE MFL, such as FE and HE
schools, colleges and others who deliver GCSE MFL qualifications
students and potential students of future GCSE MFL qualifications

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