Our GCSE French Tutors
The ability to speak another language is a fantastic skill for teenagers to develop, and French is particularly popular among GCSE students. Covering the intricacies of grammar as well as European current affairs, GCSE French is designed to improve teenagers’ speaking, reading, listening and writing skills, and to introduce them to an exciting new culture. Our GCSE French tutors showcase the joys of language learning – and their enthusiasm if infectious.
All of our GCSE French tutors have several years of teaching experience and top modern foreign languages degrees. Our team consists of teachers who have worked at leading independent schools, full-time tutors, and first class Oxbridge graduates who have lived and worked in France.
Our GCSE French tutors are united by a love of teaching and are determined to help every student achieve his or her academic potential. Whether your child gets tongue-tied at the thought of a French oral exam or has their sights set on a linguistics degree, our tutors are here to help them flourish.
Hampstead & Frognal Tutors has a rigorous recruitment process. All candidates must attend face-to-face interviews, provide professional references, and attain a DBS certificate, and only the very best are invited to join the team. When we put you in touch with a tutor, therefore, we know they will not let you down.
GCSE French Tutors – Teaching methodology
Much of language learning is about confidence. Some students – particularly at GCSE level – feel nervous about speaking a foreign language in front of their peers, worried they will slip up and sound silly. Through tailored, one-to-one sessions, our GCSE French tutors create a relaxed learning environment in which students can ask questions and make mistakes.
With a focus on active learning, our language tutors will encourage your child to do more than memorise vocabulary and learn grammatical rules by heart. Oral exams are source of anxiety for many students, so French conversation forms a core part of our lessons. Ultimately, however, our tutors adapt to the needs and aspirations of individual pupils, tailoring their sessions accordingly.
Exam preparation is also central to how we teach. Whether it involves going through past papers, studying mark schemes, or devising effective revision strategies, our tutors enable students to enter exam halls feeling positive and confident, ready for whatever the assessment may throw at them.
Online French Tutoring option
Face-to-face teaching is not the only service we offer. For families who do not live in London – or indeed for those who do – our French GCSE tutors also teach online via Skype and we currently have hundreds of students across the UK and abroad attending International Schools.
Exam Boards we Cover
OCR:
Students learn about home and the local area; health and sport; leisure and entertainment; travel and the wider world; and education and work.
- Listening: Students must listen for, identify and note main points, and take details from French of increasing length, speed and complexity. They must demonstrate an understanding of French using a range of non-verbal responses, and some short answers in English. It is a 45 minute written exam and 20% of total course.
- Speaking: Pupils must communicate in French on at least two topics – from a specified list, or of their own choice. They need to interact with French speakers, expressing and justifying opinions where appropriate. This is a controlled assessment, weighting 30% of the course.
- Reading: Students must read, identify and note main points, and take details from the text of increasing length, speed and complexity. They must demonstrate an understanding of French using a range of non-verbal responses, and some short answers in English. This is a written exam lasting 50 minutes, and worth 20% of the course.
- Writing: The pupils must write about at least two topics and express and justify their opinions in French. This is a controlled assessment worth 30% of the total course.
AQA:
Students study three ‘themes’: identity and culture; local, national and global areas of interest; current, future study and employment.
- Listening: The main thing being assessed during this examination is the pupils’ understanding and response to different types of spoken language. It is 45 minute exam with 50 marks in total, and is worth 25% of the total course. It is important to know that the exam includes 5 minutes’ reading time of the question paper before the listening stimulus is played.
- Speaking: Here, what is being assessed is how effective the students’ communication and interaction is, in speech, for a variety of purposes. It is a 10-12 minute exam, with extra preparation time, with 60 marks in total and is worth 25% of the GCSE. There is a Role-play worth 15 marks and it lasts for two minutes. Then, there will be a Photo card also worth 15 marks, lasting for 3 minutes. Finally, there will be a General conversation worth 30 marks, and lasting for 5-7 minutes.
- Reading: The reading exam assesses pupils’ ability to understand and respond to different types of written language. It is a 1 hour exam with 60 marks in total, and is worth 25% of the total GCSE course. Any questions in English are to be answered in English or non-verbally, with the same going for questions in French. There is a section in this test, which the pupils will have to complete a translation from French into English, with a minimum of 50 words.
- Writing: This assesses if students’ can communicate effectively in writing for a variety of purposes. The writing examination lasts 1 hour 15 minutes with 60 marks in total, and is worth 25% of the total course. Question one is a structured writing task, the pupils respond to four compulsory detailed bullet points, producing approximately 90 words in total, and there is a choice from two questions. This is worth 16 marks. Question two is an open-ended writing task, where the students respond to two compulsory detailed bullet points, producing approximately 150 words in total. There is also a choice from two questions, and is worth 32 marks. Finally question three is a translation from English into French, with a minimum 50 words being written. This is worth the final 12 marks.
Edexcel :
Students learn about identity and culture; their local area; holiday and travel; school; future aspirations, study and work; and international and global dimensions.
- Listening and understanding in French: 45 minutes, with an extra of 5 minutes reading time. There are 50 marks in total, and it is worth 25% of the total course. Students are assessed on their understanding of standard spoken French by one or more speakers in a range of public and social settings. Students will respond to multiple-response and short-answer open response questions based on a recording featuring male and female French speakers. Students must answer all questions in both sections. There is no requirement for students to produce written responses in French. Section A is set in French. The instructions to students are in French. Section B is set in English.The instructions to students are in English.
- Speaking: This examination is 10-12 minutes, plus 12 minutes preparation time. There are 70 marks in total and it is worth 25% of the total course. Students are assessed on their ability to communicate and interact effectively through speaking in French for different purposes and in different settings. There are three tasks which must be conducted in the following order: Task 1 – a role play based on one topic that is allocated by Pearson. Task 2 – questions based on a picture stimulus based on one topic that is allocated by Pearson. Task 3 – conversation based on two themes. The first theme is based on the topic chosen by the student in advance of the assessment. The second theme is allocated by Pearson. The assessments are conducted by teachers in one session within a five week prescribed assessment period and the recordings then submitted to Pearson for external marking.
- Reading: This is a 1 hour examination with 50 total marks, and is worth 25% of the total course. Students are assessed on their understanding of written French across a range of different types of texts, including advertisements, emails, letters, articles and literary texts. Students are required to respond to multiple-response and short-answer questions based on these texts. Students must answer all questions in each of the three sections: Section A is set in English. The instructions to students in English. Section B is set in French. The instructions to students in French. Section C includes a translation passage from French into English with instructions in English
- Writing: The exam will last 1 hour 20 minutes with 60 marks in total, and is worth the last 25% of the GCSE. Students are assessed on their ability to communicate effectively through writing in French for different purposes and audiences. Students are required to produce responses of varying lengths and types to express ideas and opinions in French. The instructions to students are in French. Word counts are specified for each question. Students must answer all questions. There are two open response questions and one translation into French.
IGCSE :
All of our tutors can prepare students for French IGCSE as well the standard qualification. IGCSEs were introduced 30 years ago by Cambridge Assessment International Education and were created for international students. Several independent schools, as well as state schools, now offer IGCSEs as an option.
The IGCSE course covers home and abroad; education and employment; personal life and relationships; the world around us; social activities, fitness and health.
- Listening: 30 minutes plus an extra 5 minutes of reading time. There are a total of 40 marks and it is worth 25% of the total IGCSE course. There are seven questions, which are a combination of multiple-choice, multiple-matching, note-taking and gap-fill questions. All five topic areas are assessed.
- Reading and Writing: 1 hour 45 minute exam with 80 marks, worth 50% of total course. Section A Reading: There are five questions, which are a combination of multiple-choice, note-taking, gap-fill and short-answer questions. Section B Writing: There are two open-response writing tasks and a task that requires writing verbs in their correct forms. Each task in this section is linked to a specific topic area.
- Speaking: This is an 8-10 minute French speaking examination worth 40 marks and 25% of the total IGCSE. The examination is made up of three tasks (A, B and C). Students will present and answer questions on a picture that is related to one of the topic areas. They will also discuss two different topics, chosen at random by Pearson. The assessments are conducted by teachers in one session within a prescribed assessment window. The recordings are then submitted to Pearson for external marking.
We strongly recommend to try out any of the past papers, which also include mark schemes, on each of these exam boards’ websites. There are also listening audio files on the websites for pupils to practice for that part of their exam.
GCSE French tutor – Now is the right time to get a tutor
If you think your child would benefit from tailored academic support, where the pressure and distraction of schoolmates is removed, private tuition could be for you. GCSEs are an extremely important set of exams which will influence your child’s A Level choices and university application.
Our tutors guide students through this exciting period of their academic careers, giving them the focused support they need to excel. Whether your child is keen to continue studying modern foreign languages or finds French a struggle, our tutors are here to maximise their potential.
If you would like to request a tutor or a free assessment please click here.
