IMSLA, together with other key stakeholders welcomes the announcement from Ofqual in July about completing the adjustments to grading in GCSE French and German originally announced in 2019 and interrupted by the pandemic. We will be able to see the impact of these adjustments when the GCSE results are announced in August, but in the meantime, this requirement for the exam boards to make positive adjustments to the grades awarded is good news for all those taking exams this summer and onwards. We will continue to argue that there should be a greater adjustment so that pupils will see that their GCSE grades in Modern Languages are comparable, on average, with their grades in other EBacc subjects, rather than thinking (incorrectly) that they are not as good at Modern Languages as at other EBacc subjects. In the meantime, though, we hope that this change will encourage students and teachers of Modern Languages as well as school leaders and parents. As this announcement landed just ahead of schools breaking up, ISMLA would like to also recognise the dedication, immense support and work that our member schools and language teachers across the nation have put into preparing this year’s GCSE cohort for their GCSE languages examinations.
Ofqual press release:
Ofqual decided in 2019 to better align grading standards in GCSE French and German with Spanish, following the conclusion of an extensive programme of work considering inter-subject comparability. We required exam boards to award more generously at grades 9, 7 and 4 in GCSE French and German in summer 2023. We also set out our intention to review this to consider whether any further adjustments were needed. Following these adjustments, there is greater alignment between GCSE French, German and Spanish than prior to the pandemic. We were always clear that any adjustment might be phased over more than one year, and we are therefore requiring exam boards to make a further positive adjustment this summer in GCSE German (grades 9, 7 and 4), and GCSE French (grades 7 and 4). We are not requiring exam boards to make a further adjustment at grade 9 in GCSE French, since the evidence suggests that there was broad alignment with Spanish in summer 2023. Making these small adjustments supports Ofqual’s role to secure qualification standards.