The syllabus content is organised around five themes, each broken down into topics and sub-topics:
- Identity and culture
- Local area, holiday and travel
- School
- Future aspirations, study and work
- International and global dimension
All students take the following four examinations:
- Paper 1 Listening and understanding in French
- Paper 2 Speaking in French
- Paper 3 Reading and understanding in French
- Paper 4 Writing in French
All students take the following four examinations, each worth 25% of the final grade:
- Paper 1 Listening: Students are assessed on their understanding of spoken French. Foundation Tier assessment is 35 minutes and Higher Tier assessment is 45 minutes.
- Paper 2 Speaking: Students are assessed on their ability to communicate and interact effectively through speaking French. The assessment covers three core tasks: role play, a picture-based task and conversation.
- Paper 3 Reading: Students are assessed on their understanding of written French across a range of different text types, including advertisements, emails, letters, articles and literary texts. Foundation Tier assessment is 45 minutes. Higher Tier assessment is 1 hour.
- Paper 4 Writing: Students produce various responses of varying lengths to express facts, opinions and ideas in French. Foundation Tier assessment is 1 hour and 10 minutes. Higher Tier assessment is 1 hour and 20 minutes.
The listening, reading and writing skills are assessed at the end of Year 11 as external examinations. The speaking skills are assessed in the Summer Term of Year 11. There is no controlled assessment in this subject.