Dyslexia and spellings in language GCSEs

[Itsnotmypartybutiwannacry]

DD is dyslexic and has issues with spelling in particular. She seems to not be penalised too much in English and we had a parents evening where the teacher said spellings is really not as big a deal and she would still be looking at a 7 or above. I was quite surprised at this as I do struggle to guess some of her words, but trust the teacher.

However last term we have had some feedback from vocab tests in Spanish where dd was previously getting great marks and is now getting increasingly penalised for spelling. Obviously I understand they need to know she knows which word is which, and an 'e' in the wrong place or missed can change the meaning. However, I don't fully understand why the GCSE in another language appears to be more robust on spelling than for English? Or is it not? I don't know whether we need to be asking her SEN to support her with the vocab for her languages as well as English? Or is the teacher simply trying to instil "good practice" by being super strict with spellings and not recognising dd's dyslexia?

Would love to hear opinions and/or advice etc.

My dd is dyslexic and in year 10. Spelling is marked (as part of SPAG) in English language paper and constitutes 16 out of 40 marks (as I understand). This is obviously grammar and punctuation as well so not just spelling, and I would expect her to get some marks out of that 16, but her spelling is definitely going to cause a big risk of dropping marks. She is allowed to use a laptop but for exams they are not allowed to have the spellcheck function on.

With regard to languages, she was doing well in French up until this year, but I don't think it was too challenging and they were perhaps a bit more lenient about spelling - now it is GCSE they are much more particular and she is finding it really hard. Kind of wishing she had not chosen a language even though she was put in the EBacc stream so was recommended to do so.

I'm not sure what will help, we have an English tutor, and she was put on a programme called Lexia Power Up in school in year 9 (gets them to use software designed to get them GCSE ready) - if this has had an appreciable effect on her spelling I have not noticed it! I think most schools will have access to this or similar software though.

Yes I think I was lulled into a sense of security that they might not be as strict as they used to be, but actually I think that she will find it increasingly becomes an issue. It's something I think they could be clearer on slightly sooner but maybe they don't want to put people off languages. She currently has 2 languages chosen and I am wondering if this will be too much if there is a real impetus on correct spellings and accents on top!

@clary May be able to advise on how many marks go on spelling.

Also have a very dyslexic DD in Y10 who can't spell except phonetically but is on track for G8 in both English papers. The 9 is unlikely because her punctation and spelling will let her down. She uses a laptop with spell check disabled - looked into enabling it, but she'd lose all the SPAG marks whereas she might manage a few without.

Languages were a complete disaster for us and so DD dropped them completely at the end of Y8 - we tried French, Spanish and Latin and none of them were a hit.

We have found that English has been much more about content and understanding grammar use (what is a metaphor etc) - whereas the Languages wanted far more accuracy in the actual spellings as they're examining that in more depth than whether you understand onomatopoeia in French.

It is frustrating as she knows the vocab and speaks it and reads it well. I seem to remember the higher French paper was a more in depth literature style paper - I was in the middle set but seem to remember the top doing x2 A4 side book reviews for homework and frankly being very pleased I was not in that set. I wonder if the spelling side is lower if the literary content side goes up?

There isn't any literature in MFL GCSEs anymore, just at A level. To get higher grades you need to both understand and accurately produce more complex language.

Ah bless you @TeenDivided I saw this earlier but had no time at that moment.

What year is your DD in @Itsnotmypartybutiwannacry ? I thought at first year 10/11 as you are quoting possible grades, but then you said she has two languages chosen - so is she year 9?

Does the school do AQA? I only ask bc that is the board I know best so the following comments focus on AQA - but pretty much apply to all boards (there aren't that many for MFL).

YY no literature at GCSE MFL at all.

So the MFL GCSE is made up of four skills, each weighted at 25%. For speaking, obvs no worries.

Reading or listening – equally, not a problem. Those papers do not seek to examine writing, but rather understanding.

As an example from an actual mark scheme (for French) – if the answer to a question is "Spain", then anything that conveys that is acceptable – Spane, Spayne etc. What would not be acceptable (if the answer needed to be in English) would be the word in French (in a French exam!) – so in this case Espagne, as that would suggest lack of understanding of the meaning of the word.

Most of the AQA the reading and listening paper questions and answers are in English. But the same would apply for the elements in TL.

I guess there is more of an issue in the writing paper. But even there, as long as misspellings do not affect communication (in other words, the intended meaning is clear) then credit will be given for that; the main issue is in marks for accuracy and use of the language. Spelling would probably impact here. But even then, and even in the higher paper, perfect accuracy is not needed to gain the highest mark.

Still, tho, it will be an issue and she will most likely drop some marks. Not many tho and only in that one paper (I am assuming her understanding and composition of MFL is good). Spanish is not really my subject, but if you were to write (for example) “mes” in French instead of “mais” (apologies – I have no idea if this is a likely error) then that is a different word with a different meaning. Or for German, if you put "geben" instead of "gehen" - they are both verbs but the meaning is different so you woudl lose marks. Again, no idea if that is a likely error?

The AQA H writing paper is three questions - two short essays where accuracy is only one element, and a translation paragraph.

This is what the mark scheme says for the translation, where marks are given for "conveying key messages":
"When deciding on whether a key message is conveyed, [the marker] should ask ... the question: ‘Would a native speaker understand the target language version without reference to the original English?’ If the answer is ‘yes’, award a tick."

So I think even there she could pick up marks. It's far from a total disaster IMHO.

I want to add that I am in no way suggesting that accurate spelling of words in another language is not important. It is - and DD dropped most of her GCSE and A level marks in French bc she always forgot to make her adjectives agree! But if a student is otherwise able, I don't personally think it will have a massive impact on their grade.

Apols for the essay!

Oh that is great, thank you @clary ! I think we can give up hopes of a 9 but if she is still in with a shot for a 7 or 8 she will be happy. It is AQA so that is all relevant.

She got on very well with Japanese when we went (wanted to learn it but a bit late and school didn't have the option), I'd love someone to do a study on dyslexics and pictorial languages!

A 9 in 2019 was 201/203/205 out of 240 (depending on language) so you could drop 7-8 marks on each paper and achieve a 9. Still possible even with losing some marks for spelling.

Thank you @clary that surprises me but gives me hope!

It's really hard to get a 9 in any subject; to achieve a 9 in MFL a student has to be very able and work hard. So i hope she doesn't put too much pressure on herself.

But only 60 of the 240 marks are for writing, and realistically an otherwise tiptop paper would have a limited number of marks for accuracy; and poor spelling would not negate all those marks if that makes sense. It does depend on how poor the spelling is tho. Missing off the odd accent is not going to drop you any marks; but if the meaning is not clear at all then you will lose marks.

Grade 7 or 8 in MFL is excellent.

@Itsnotmypartybutiwannacry (

This article might interest you. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230302-can-dyslexia-change-in-other-languages

Can I ask who diagnosed dyslexia? The only reason I ask is my ds has it someone from the school team tested him and said it was clear he had it but it wasn't a formal diagnosis, so while school will support him as best they can there would be no extra support given in gcse etc so I payed for the formal diagnosis as can't get it on nhs and now he will get extra time for gcse sit separately with 1 teacher if he wishes and spelling mistakes will be accepted. Might be worth looking into getting a formal diagnosis if that's not what you have.

@Rolypoly2961 What an interesting article! I wonder if we will ever get to a point where the dyslexic children will have Japanese language options from Primary. I knew DD was enjoying decoding the kanji 'pictures' because she would describe the dragon and gate, which seemed logical to her.

We paid for a diagnosis at a specialist dyslexia centre when the teachers bought it to our attention, quite early on.

Spelling mistakes don't get accepted in exams just because you have a dyslexia Dx. You just lose those marks, but hope that access arrangements will help level the field a bit - extra time to allow you to check, laptops and reading pens, scribes, rest breaks etc.

What does tend to happen is that teachers will ignore spelling errors for their severely dyslexic students as a sea of red pen is not going to help, and instead focus on the content.

You don't even need an actual diagnosis for exam access arrangements. Things like extra time are not allocated on the basis of a diagnosis. You need to have scores under 84 in two different tests, and also show that having extra time is your normal way of working.

Unfortunately, spelling mistakes which obscure or change the meaning of a word can't be ignored in GCSEs. If the examiner isn't sure which word is intended, or if the mistake means a different word has been written (even when it clearly makes no sense in the context), then examiners can't give benefit of the doubt- even if subjects with no official SPAG marks.

Access arrangements can be put in place to help support students to achieve the best possible mark, but it's not true that spelling will be totally disregarded.