“Welcome to the Pearson Edexcel GCSE Paper 2 Speaking exam guide. In this short film,
we will explain how to carry out the examination from the teacher/examiner’s viewpoint.
The film is not designed as an assessment guide - for more information on what is assessed
please refer to the Pearson Edexcel website: Sample Assessment Materials and Exam Materials
“The specification for all modern foreign languages is the same across the board. In
this film we will be using French as the example language, but will not be focussing on the
student’s responses rather we will focus on what the teacher/examiner needs to do at
key points. We will subtitle any spoken French into English for ease of understanding.
First, let’s consider the necessary components to start the exam:
“When will you get the Oral Assessment Pack? This will be sent to you in March but mustn’t
be opened until up to three working days before the start date of the exam window. This does
not include weekends and the pack must be kept in a secure location.
“Next what is needed? - You will need a preparation area for the student, the full
selection of cards and themes, sequencing cards-I’ll explain these in more detail
a little later, a quiet examination room, stop clock visible to both and recording equipment-checked
for sound. Please remember that you must submit recordings
on USB or CD. “How is the exam split up? -
There are three tasks-1) Role Play based on themes 1-4 2) a picture card task and 3) conversation
which is split into two sections: one a topic selected by the candidate and the second section
a topic selected by the teacher based on the options given in the sequence card. These
tasks must be carried out in that order and should be based on the sequence card as previously
shown.” “The total examination time is between 7
to 9 minutes for Foundation and 10-12 minutes for the higher paper. Please ensure you keep
an eye on the clock during the examination itself.
Candidates must be allowed a further 12 minute preparation time under supervised conditions
to prepare for the role-play and picture based task. The preparation time is immediately
before they sit the examination and must only be used to prepare tasks 1 and 2.
Students have one side of A4 to write their notes on. This form is known as the CN2 form.
You may also download the form from Course Materials-Forms and Administration on the
Pearson website. This is to be used for the first two two tasks.
Candidates may refer to these notes during the exam for tasks 1 and 2 only.
Candidate should not read out full sentences but use their notes for reference only
Candidates must return their notes and the stimuli after completing Task 2 and before
starting Task 3. Candidates mustn’t write on the stimuli
Candidates mustn’t have a dictionary or any other resource with them at any point
All notes must be kept by the centre until the end of October in the year of assessment,
after which time they should be securely destroyed. The teacher/examiner must cover all parts
of each task to ensure that the candidate is able to access the maximum amount of marks
available Teacher/examiners must use the sequencing
grid provided by Pearson Edexcel. An invigilator must be someone who is competent
and fully trained, who understands what is and what is not permissible.
Let’s take a look at the sequencing grid and explain how this works:
“The allocation of the themes is based upon two things:
First, the candidates must let the teacher/examiner know no later than two weeks before the assessment
takes place which theme they have chosen for Part 1 of the conversation. The sequence is
then driven by the topic that the candidate has selected for the first part of the conversation
as highlighted Second, the theme for each task is then dictated
by the order of candidates taking the exam. As you can see here, depending on the order
of the candidates, the theme they cover for each task will differ
So let’s begin with our first candidate. Please note that if you have only one candidate,
they must follow the ‘Candidate order 1’ rather than get a free selection of all choices.
“Ok Emmie, so you’ve got your cards. Can you write your notes on this piece of paper,
don’t write on the cards and you’ve got 12 minutes ok?
This is the GCSE French assessment, paper 2, speaking assessment for summer 2019. Higher
tier, 1FRO, teacher/examiner Karine Harrington, centre name: Pearson Edexcel School, Centre
Number: 12345.
Candidate number 0134, Candidate name: Emmie Peterson.
“ok Ca va?” “Ok, how are you” “Ca va bien” “I am fine”
“Alors on va commencer avec le jeu de rôle et c’est le HR2. Alors, tu parles des activités
scolaires avec ta partenaire Francaise.” “Tu fais souvent une activité extra-scolaire?
“So we are going to start with the role play HR2. You are speaking with your French
partner about school activities” “Do you do extra-curricular activities often?”
“Apres le college, je vais a la natacion chaque mercredi soir”
“After school, I go swimming every Wednesday evening”
“Il y a des vêtements spéciaux?” “Are there any special clothes to wear?”
“Non, pas besoin” “No, there’s no need”
“Ok, alors, merci. C’est fini. Maintenant, nous allons faire la photo numero cinq. OK.”
“Okay, well thank you. That’s the end. Now we are going to go on to photo number
5 okay” “Alors, decris-moi la photo” “So, please
describe the photo to me” “Sur la photo, il y a une famille, qui sont
sur la plage” “In the photo there is a family who are
on the beach” “Autre chose?”
“Anything else?” “A gauche, il y a une mere qui portant une
chemise blanche” “On the left is a mother wearing a white
shirt” “Tu préfères manger a la maison ou au
restaurant quand tu es en vacances?” “Do you prefer eating at home or at a restaurant
when you are on holiday?” “On peut répéter la question s’il vous
plaît?” “Could you repeat that please?”
“Tu préfères manger a la maison ou au restaurant quand tu es en vacances?”
“Do you prefer eating at home or at a restaurant when you are on holiday?”
“Ok, merci, c’est fini. Tu me donnes tes notes s’il te plait?”“Okay that’s
finished. Please pass me your notes.” “Merci, maintenant, nous allons faire la
conversation.” “Thank you. Now we are going to do the conversation
“Alors, tu as choisi le theme numero 1, alors tu commences s’il te plait?”
“You have chosen theme number 1, so please can you begin”
“J’habite avec ma mere. Dans ma famille, il y a ma mere, ma grande mère, mon oncle,
ma tante, et mes deux cousins. “I live with my mother. In my family there’s
my mum, my grandmother, my uncle and aunt and two cousins.”
“Quand j'étais petite j’amais disputer avec ma cousin, toute a fois maintenant je
m’entends très bien avec elle” “When I was little I used to enjoy arguing
with my cousin, but these days I get on very well with her.”
“ok merci, alors avec ta cousine Maddie, qu’est-ce que tu fais normalement le weekend?”
“Okay, thank you, so with your cousin Maddie, what do you normally do at the weekend?”
“Normalement, dans le weekend…” “Usually at the weekend…”
“Le weekend prochain si je pouvais, je voudrais aller a Londres avec ma mere et visiter le
musée.” “Next weekend if can, I would like to go
to London with my mum to visit a museum.” “D’accord merci. Maintenant nous allons
faire la conversation numéro deux sur le thème numéro quatre: L’avenir. Ok. Alors,
qu’as tu l'intention de faire plus tard?” “Okay, thank you. Now we are going to do
the second part of the conversation and we will talk about number 4: The Future. So what
do you have plans to do later in life?” “Plus tard, j’aimerais être une artiste”
“Later, I would like to become an artist.” “Et comme je suis Américaine, je voudrais
travailler aux Etats-Unis plus tard” “And as I am American, I would like to work
in the United States later on” “D’accord, merci. C’est fini.”
“Okay thank you. That’s the end”
Finally a few points to remember.
Stop recording after each candidate Centres must ensure that candidates’ complete
speaking assessment is recorded as one single track.
All candidates’ recording must be saved as an mp3/.wav/.wma file and saved to a memory
stick only The filename must be written clearly in the
following format: Candidate Number_Candidate Name_Centre Unit_Tier_Series
Example: 0021_Joe Bloggs_12345_1FRO_2F_1906 The memory stick must have the centre number
and exam code written clearly on them. The memory sticks must be sent within 3 days
of the final exam taken within the 5 week assessment period to the allocated Pearson
Edexcel examiner Do ensure you keep a copy of all recordings
in case of loss in the post of damage to memory stick in transit.
Centres must include a fully completed hard copy print out of the CS2 form which is available
on the Pearson Website under Course Materials-Forms and Administration
Centres must also include a fully completed electronic version of the CS2 form on the
USB
For more information please refer to the Pearson Edexcel website.