Students must meet the minimum entry requirements for the Academic or Combination study pathway. In addition, students must have GCSE Grade 6 in French.

The course is designed to enable students to develop and build on the skills acquired at GCSE, enhance employment prospects, facilitate foreign travel, provide an insight into another culture and society and provide students with a sound basis for further study.

This qualification is linear which means students will sit their exams at the end of the course. During both years the course content will be:

• Social issues and trends: The changing nature of family, ‘the cyber society’, the place of voluntary work, positive features of a diverse society, life for the marginalised and how criminals are treated.
• Artistic culture: A culture proud of its heritage, contemporary Francophone music and cinema, the 7th art form.
• Grammar
• Aspects of political life in the French speaking world: Teenagers, the right to vote and political commitment, demonstrations and strikes- who holds the power? Politics and immigration.
• Works: ‘No et moi’ by Delphine de Vigan is the literary text studied in Year 13 and La Haine is the film studied in Year 12.

Students may be offered the opportunity to undertake a residential study visit to France or alternatively undertake a work experience placement.

Assessment takes place at the end of year two.

Paper 1 – Listening, reading and writing

• Written exam 2½ hours, 100 marks, 50% of the A-level

Paper 2 – Writing

• Written exam 2 hours (each essay should be approximately 300 words), 80 marks, 20% of the A-level

Paper 3 – Speaking

• Oral exam 21 – 23 minutes (including 5 minutes preparation time), 60 marks, 30% of the A-level

In an increasingly competitive job market, the study of French can give you the edge. It is seen as a subject which demonstrates academic rigour and broadens your knowledge of Francophone cultures and the world around you.