Key Stage 4 (Years 10-11)

Students are strongly encouraged to opt for a language at GCSE. Students continue to study from the Studio, Stimmt and Viva courses at Key Stage 4 to build on the work they complete throughout Key Stage 3.

Students in Year 10 and 11 follow the AQA syllabus. They undertake a number of internal assessment tests throughout the course in the four key language skills and, at the end of Year 11, will sit their formal examinations. The examinations are split into Foundation tier, covering grades 1-5, and Higher tier, covering grades 4-9. Students will be entered for the same tier in all 4 exams (Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing).

The GCSE is broken down into 3 themes: Theme 1 – Identity and Culture; Theme 2 – Local, National, International and Global Areas of Interest; Theme 3 – Current and Future Study and Employment. The same topics are studied in French, German and Spanish, though these are taught in a different order to suit a logical grammar progression in each language. Students also learn cultural elements relating to the countries where the target language is spoken. Students cover Modules 1 and 2 of the GCSE course in Y9, Modules 3-5 in Y10 and Modules 6-8 plus revision of the earlier topics in Y11.