AQA GCSE French: Lessons Learned from the New 2026 Exams

ABOUT THIS COURSE

This brand-new course provides essential insights into the first sitting of the new AQA GCSE French specification in Summer 2026. Led by senior examiner Stuart Glover - the only examiner in the country to have marked all four skill areas (Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing) in the first examination series -this course offers a unique and comprehensive overview of how students performed. The course will analyse the key lessons from the 2026 examinations, identifying where students performed well and where they struggled across all four skills. It will explore common errors, highlight areas where students lost marks unnecessarily, and examine how the new specification, including the prescribed vocabulary, influenced outcomes. This must-attend course will provide teachers with practical strategies to strengthen teaching and exam preparation for the 2027 cohort and beyond. Participants will leave with greater confidence in preparing students for every component of the examination and with a range of strategies designed to support learners across the full ability range.

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WHO SHOULD ATTEND?

• Heads of department
• Teachers preparing students for AQA GCSE French examinations
• Early careers teachers who seek to gain confidence in their teaching
• Tutors preparing students for the AQA GCSE French examinations

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BENEFITS OF ATTENDING

• See how to approach the dictation section of the listening examination with confidence
• Discover ways to enhance pupil performance in the reading examination, particularly with translation into English skills
• Find out how to ensure that students can perform to the best of their ability in the writing examination, with emphasis on what structures impressed examiners
• Discover what examiners are looking for in the reading aloud and photo card sections of the speaking test
• Make sure that you give your students an advantage in the speaking examination by following exam board guidance to the letter
• See how the prescriptive vocabulary affected performance

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PROGRAMME

10.00am: Lessons to Learn from 2026

• Recapping the format of the exams and feeding back on performance
• Discovering which skill areas posed the most problems
• Evaluating the effect of the prescriptive vocabulary
• Learning how to overcome common pitfalls noted in the 2026 examinations

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10.30am: Securing Marks in the Speaking Examination

• Discovering what works in the role play section
• Ensuring that students score well in the reading aloud and short conversation
• Learning how to develop the description of the photo card and how to structure the unprepared conversation
• Making sure that timing does not become an issue and disadvantage students

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11.30am: Break

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11.45: Boosting Listening and Reading skills

• Developing awareness of target grades in the examination
• Maximising marks on dictations
• Learning how best to tackle vocabulary learning
• Tips to gain the edge in objective tests and translations

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12.45pm: Lunch

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1.45pm: Answering Each Section of the Writing Exam Successfully

• Discovering which structures work best in extended answers
• Finding the right approach to short tasks
• Avoiding the pitfalls of translation into French
• Approaches which work best to impress
• Short cuts to success in communication, range and accuracy

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2.45pm: Break

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2.55pm: Communication and Grammar

• Discovering ways to use grammar to aid communication
• Finding out how to increase range and complexity in productive skills
• Opportunities to ask questions
• Final tips for the future

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3.30pm: Depart