Consultation outcome

Changes to the subject content for modern foreign language GCSEs

This was published under the 2022 Truss Conservative government

Applies to England

This consultation has concluded

Read the full outcome

Detail of outcome

We publicly consulted on the proposed permanent removal of the expectation that students engage with unfamiliar and abstract material in modern foreign language GCSEs.

This report is a summary of responses received and the government’s response to the consultation.

Read the updated GCSE subject content for modern foreign languages.

Read Ofqual’s response to their consultation on changes to the assessment of modern foreign language GCSEs from 2023 onwards. This covers the requirement for the assessment of vocabulary.


Original consultation

Summary

We're seeking views on our proposed changes to the current subject content for modern foreign language GCSEs.

This consultation was held on another website.

This consultation ran from
to

Consultation description

We introduced a temporary change to modern foreign language GCSE exams in summer 2022. This change removed the regulatory requirement that exam boards must include unfamiliar vocabulary within their assessments.

This consultation sets out our proposal to permanently remove the expectation that students engage with unfamiliar vocabulary.

These changes will:

  • offer exam boards greater flexibility when it comes to assessment design
  • make the subject content more consistent between languages
  • make assessments fairer and more accessible

Ofqual has also launched its own consultation on amending their subject level conditions, guidance and assessment requirements for all GCSE language qualifications.

Updates to this page

Published 29 September 2022
Last updated 5 December 2022 + show all updates
  1. Added a link to the updated GCSE subject content for modern foreign languages.

  2. 'Changes to the subject content for modern foreign language GCSEs: government consultation response' has been added.

  3. First published.

Sign up for emails or print this page