French

Assessment

All examinations are taken at the end of the Upper Sixth. Examination length and assessment weightings vary very slightly across languages, but a typical outline is as follows. PAPER 1 – Listening, reading and translation – 1 hr 45 minutes 40% of the final mark • Listening comprehension test, including questions testing summary skills. • Reading comprehension test, including multiple choice and open-response questions. • Translation into English. PAPER 2 – Written response to works and translation – 1 hr 40 minutes 30% of the final mark • Translation from English into the foreign language. • Essay in the foreign language (300-350 words) either on two literary texts or on one literary text and one film. PAPER 3 – Speaking – 21-23 minutes 30% of the final mark • Discussion on a theme – two questions on a theme are asked, following time for the pupils to read a stimulus card; these are then followed by a discussion with the examiner. • Presentation and discussion on the pupil’s independent research project – the pupil presents a summary of their research; this is then followed by a discussion with the examiner. In both tasks pupils are expected to take the lead in the discussions.