Mumsnet Talk

Following 5 years living in France we moved back to the UK in June last year. When ds joined the local secondary school at the end of y7 his form teacher (coincidentally also French and his MFL teacher) told us the school would let him take his French gcse early but as there was only a few weeks of term left we didn’t get into the specifics of when etc. However, the school did put him in the Spanish stream instead of French.

Yesterday dh met with the form teacher for a general discussion (whole school thing not just for ds) and she told him they now wouldn’t be able to let him take the exam early anymore as new regs mean he has to do classroom based coursework.

I want to discuss this further with the school as dh didn’t really know what to say when she told him this and he only had a 15 minute slot! Ds is in the Spanish stream and by all accounts doing very well. If he takes the French gcse early he could concentrate on the Spanish and do that as an option when he gets to y10. Otherwise is it likely the school will allow him to do 2 language gcses? If he is only allowed to do one, and continues with Spanish, he will lose out on gaining an extra easy gcse. If he takes French he will lose out on having another language and he will find the lessons too easy.

I want to ask the school if it possible for him to attend a gcse French lesson if it coincides with one of the other non-core subjects. Is this wise? Alternatively, can he take the French gcse privately?

Basically, how can we ensure he doesn’t lose the knowledge of French that he has so that he can take the gcse? It doesn’t have to be this academic year, it could be next.

Would really appreciate some advice – especially from MFL teachers or others who have been in the same position.

BTW he has been doing the BBC bitesize French gcse revision stuff to practice and he did do a practice paper that the form teacher gave him at the beginning of y8 which he found very straightforward.

If the school are not willing to certify his coursework then he will not be able to sit the exam as it forms part of the overall mark. I am not sure if GCSE have different exam boards but if they do then it might be worth looking into finding another exam board that does not have coursework as part of the exam mark. You could then enter him as a private student for that exam yourself. You would have to go to the different exam board websites and look at the specifications to see what is included in the grade. IHTH

So, it's not all gcse French courses that have this requirement? Just the one the school is following?

Thanks for the reply btw.

Ask if they will put him in privately for the IGCSE CIE exam. No coursework - 4 papers; reading and writing, listening, oral and continuous writing. The papers are available on the CIE website. You may have to pay for his entry, but it would get it over and done with.

BTW if the school wont put him forward for the CIE French then you might have to find an exam center where he can sit the exam as a private student. You need to act now as I think the deadlines must be quite close for the summer exam session.

I can see why it would be difficult for the school to let him do the French exams if he is not doing French lessons.

It is not a case of just sitting the exam. There are four strands - reading, writing, listening and speaking. The speaking exam is examined in-house, so that needs teacher time. The rest of it requires jumping through a few hoops that he needs to be prepared for.

Some schools will be very accommodating and others will not. At my DD's school, they would bend over backwards, but it is not the same everywhere.

Find out as much as you can about the specification they are using in school, and the implication of the new assessment system. The school may be fearful of the new specs and not allow any deviations until they know more of what is going on. Their change of heart from last year to now may be because of the spec change from modular to linear, which was sprung on schools just before Christmas and still with lack of clarity as to how the new system works exactly.

As others have said, consider the iGCSE, and entering him as a private candidate, or paying privately for the entry fee and any invigilation costs.

I'm guessing here, because I'm not a languages teacher, but I'm not sure that another exam board is necessarily an option. Surely the teachers would have to carry out the orals and thus need to do a lot of additional reading and preparation?

I don't know what sort of school your child is in, but mine is an inner London comp. Most of our students have another language as well as English, so we have most of the kids sitting language exams as private candidates at one point or another.....but we have somebody specifically employed to deal with that. It is probably not entirely straightforward and may require class time. Have you looked at evening classes at the local college? They may find it easier to sort it out.

what year group is he? I am asking as the league table headline figures are all changing to stop students taking GCSEs before they are year 11 as some schools were doing 1 year courses in year 10, then another set of subjects in year 11. Therefore if he is year 9 or less then this will have a effect their league tables.

Thanks all. Didn't get a chance to log back on yesterday. I will speak to the teacher but will also look into the igcse as an alternative. BTW he is currently in y8. We don't necessarily want him to take the exam this academic year.

I agree that if the school cannot find a workable option then go privately and if you need help for preparation, contact the Alliance Francaise or a good local tutor or a reputable private tutoring agency to support you through it.