Conditions and requirements for the assessment of MFL GCSEs in 2021
Applies to England
Read the full outcome
Detail of outcome
We have decided to implement the majority of the proposals we set out in the consultation document. Whilst the overall proposals remain unchanged, we have made some amendments to the drafting of the requirements in light of the feedback we received, as respondents provided helpful insight into areas of the requirements which they considered were not sufficiently clear.
Feedback received
Detail of feedback received
In total, we received 193 responses. The majority of these were from teachers of modern foreign languages (150) with 30 responses from school leaders and exams officers, 4 responses from students and parents, 3 from teaching associations, 3 from exam boards and 3 from other groups.
Original consultation
Consultation description
We are consulting on temporary changes to the subject level conditions and requirements which set out the way in which GCSE qualifications in modern foreign languages (MFL) must be assessed. The changes will have effect for qualifications taken in summer 2021 only.
The proposed changes are to implement the policy decisions we published on 3 August 2020. We summarised the changes we intended to make for GCSE qualifications in modern foreign languages as follows:
- remove requirement for assessments to use words outside of vocabulary lists and permit glossing where necessary whilst maintaining the level of knowledge and accuracy needed for the highest grades
- make the spoken language assessment an endorsement reported on a 3-point scale (pass, merit and distinction) against common assessment criteria - to be assessed by teachers during the course of study
- permit exam boards to include an additional optional question in the writing assessment which would enable students to focus on fewer themes in their writing
Audience
This consultation may be of interest to:
- regulated awarding organisations
- teachers of modern foreign languages
This is a technical consultation which explains the changes we propose to make to subject level conditions to implement the policy decisions we took following public consultation. In many cases, technical consultations are of interest only to awarding organisations who are well placed to evaluate the effect of detailed changes to the conditions.
The changes we are proposing include the introduction of criteria to assist teachers to assess students’ spoken language. It is important that teachers and others have the opportunity to comment on the criteria we have proposed and for that reason we have decided to consult publicly on the proposed changes to the subject level criteria.
Documents
Updates to this page
Last updated 5 November 2020 + show all updates
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Decisions and analysis of consultation responses added.
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First published.