Your guide to understanding the new French, German and Spanish GCSEs - First teaching from September 2024, and first assessment summer 2026

Oct 20, 2026

Uploaded by Melati

Guide explaining the new AQA GCSE specifications for French (8652), German (8662) and Spanish (8692), including key timelines from first teaching in September 2024 and first assessment in summer 2026. Highlights accessible assessment design with students at the heart, clear structure across listening, speaking and writing, and support such as sample question papers, mark schemes, item commentaries, training and curriculum team assistance. Outlines aims focused on language learning, cultural diversity and engaging, relevant assessment foundations.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages5

Reading Time13 min

AccessFree to download

Students at the heart of our assessments

Why choose AQA

Key resources and support

Assessment structure at a glance

Your guide to understanding the new French (8652), German (8662) and Spanish (8692) GCSEs First teaching from September 2024, and first assessment summer 2026. Contents Students at the heart of our assessments 3 Why choose AQA 4 Key resources and support 5 Assessment structure at a glance 6 Contact us ........................................................ 8 I love that learning another language allows you to connect with people from different cultures and communities. It allows you to see the world through someone else’s eyes. Sadaf – Curriculum Support Manager, MFL Students at the heart of our assessments Why choose AQA Ready to teach the new GCSE French, German and Spanish specifications? With AQA, you are. Having listened to hundreds of teachers like you, our specifications have been designed based on your feedbackand then trialled with real students, so you know the specification really does meet teachers’ and learners’ needs. Students at the heart of our assessments All students should be able to succeed, irrespective of their background or experiences – that’s why we’ve designed accessible assessments-to help every learner reach their full potential. Created for learners of all abilities, our specifications will help your students build their knowledge and understanding, while supporting you to deliver well-resourced lessons – and the results your students deserve. Support and resources Listening to hundreds of teachers means our offering is tailored to you and the needs of your learners. Giving you everything you need, from new and updated resources to regular training and events to prepare you for first teaching. Support doesn’t end there-our Curriculum Team is only ever a phone call away-ready to answer your questions. Expertise Many of us are and have been teachers. We’ve all been learners. Our team of MFL experts are with you every step of the way through first teaching and beyond, ensuring you have everything you need to confidently teach the new specification. As the UK’s most chosen awarding body, we have the largest community. So, whether you’re looking for experiences from schools like yours or a different perspective, you’re in good company. Qualification aims • Attracting students of all abilities to languages. • Showing students the value of language learning as a life-long skill. • Celebrating the cultural diversity of languages in the countries and communities around the world. • Encouraging students to broaden their horizons, stepping beyond their own experiences and learning more about the countries and communities where the language is spoken. • Ensuring assessments are clear and accessible and that our content is engaging and relevant providing a solid foundation for further language learning or employment. The training and development materials provided by AQA in order to support HODs and teachers are always of the highest quality and the support on offer from the AQA MFL team is consistently excellent. MFL Head of Department 2 3 Why choose AQA Languages GCSEs that keep things straightforward for students. Listening • Want Language GCSEs that keep things straightforward for students? We’ve made sure our listening paper is kept to the current length to reduce cognitive demand for learners, and changed the tasks that students told us felt confusing. • Looking out for your learners, we’ve added checking time at the end of the Listening test. Speaking • Giving your learners more opportunities to gain marks, our dictation rewards communication of meaning as well as accuracy. Our dictation has marks for both AO1 and AO3, so that half the marks are awarded for how well students have communicated the meaning of the spoken extracts as well as how accurately they have transcribed them. This means that students who struggle with accuracy can still be successful in this task. • Don’t worry about your school’s facilities or resources-our spe

FAQs

What are the key dates for the new French, German and Spanish GCSEs?

First teaching starts from September 2024, with the first assessment in summer 2026.

How does AQA design assessments to support all learners?

Accessible assessments are intended to help every learner reach their potential, including learners of all abilities, with clear and engaging tasks.

What support and resources are provided for first teaching?

Support includes sample question papers and mark schemes, item commentaries, regular training and events, and ongoing help from the AQA Curriculum Team.

Oct 20, 2026

Uploaded by Melati