A 10-week consultation has started on how GCSE MFL qualifications in French, German and Spanish will be assessed in the future.

Ofqual today (10 March) published a consultation on the future assessment arrangements for modern foreign language (MFL) GCSEs in French, German and Spanish.

These proposals relate to the revised subject content that the Department for Education (DfE) is proposing in a public consultation also published today.

The proposals will likely come into effect for first teaching from September 2023, and assessments in 2025 at the earliest.

We are proposing that:

  • the assessment objectives reflect the updated content
  • assessments are still tiered at foundation and higher tier, with students only entered for one tier
  • non-exam assessment (NEA) continues to be used for the assessment of speaking skills
  • NEA continues to count towards 25% of the total marks for the qualification

Julie Swan, Executive Director for General Qualifications, said:

As the subject content of these qualifications is revised, we are reviewing the assessment arrangements to ensure they remain reliable and valid.

Our proposals are subject to consultation alongside the DfE proposals for revised subject content, and we encourage respondents to our consultation also to consider that of the DfE.

These proposals will not have an impact on students taking GCSE exams this year or next.

Published 10 March 2021