All three exam boards have published their proposed specifications and sample papers for the new GCSE French (examination from 2026). The sample papers are for French; German and Spanish will follow in due course. You can find them here:
- AQA
- Edexcel Pearson
- WJEC Eduqas (sample listening, writing/reading and speaking)
All specifications incorporate the new requirements as stipulated by the DfE, namely:
- dictation
- read-aloud
- an assessment objective relating to grammar and correctness
- a specified word list drawing principally on the ‘most frequent’ words
Helen Myers from the Association for Language Learning has done a helpful and detailed analysis of the three draft specifications, highlighting how they differ from each other. Adam Lamb from Mossbourne Community Academy has a useful summary of the differences between AQA and Pearson Edexcel.
