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Instructions for the conduct of the
exams Summer 2024
GCSE Modern foreign languages
These instructions apply to GCSE MFL exams in:
- Bengali 8638
- Chinese (Spoken Mandarin) 8673
- French 8658
- German 8668
- Italian 8633
- Modern Hebrew 8678
- Panjabi 8683
- Polish 8688
- Spanish 8698
- Urdu 8648
Staff conducting the tests must read and be familiar with both these instructions and the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) Instructions for Conducting Examinations in advance of the exam. One copy of these instructions, together with a copy of JCQ’s instructions, must be available in each exam room – including, for the speaking tests, the preparation area and the room(s) used for the conduct of the tests.
Version 1.
Yellow highlighting indicates a change or addition to the previous version of Instructions for the conduct of the exams
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General instructions
These instructions must be read in conjunction with the JCQ document Instructions for Conducting Examinations which apply to all AQA exams.
- Two tests, one at each tier, will be available in each of Listening, Reading and Writing. All tests will be set and marked by AQA examiners.
- The Writing tests are timetabled in a separate session from the Listening and Reading tests. It is intended that, in accordance with the published timetable:
o the Foundation and Higher Listening Tests should be conducted simultaneously o the Foundation and Higher Reading Tests should be conducted simultaneously
o the Foundation and Higher Writing Tests should be conducted simultaneously.
- As the Listening and Reading tests are conducted in one single session, the Listening question papers must be collected in before the Reading test papers are distributed. Under no circumstances may candidates have access to both question papers at once. If a school or college decides that all or some candidates will do the Reading exam first, then the Reading papers must be collected in before the Listening papers are issued. The 2024 timetable is confirmed and available on our website.
- Candidates who take an exam later than the published starting time shown on the timetable must be kept under the direct supervision of school staff from 30 minutes after the published starting time for the paper concerned until the time when those candidates begin their exam.
- The timing given for the duration of the Listening tests is approximate.
- Full details of the tests and entry requirements are given in the specifications.
- Unforeseen problems may occur during the conduct of the Listening tests in particular. These instructions incorporate references to the most common problems which can occur and what action should be taken. The underlying principles throughout are: - be familiar with the instructions for the conduct of the tests - take prompt and appropriate action calmly - where directed to do so, inform AQA immediately after the tests, in writing, of the action which has been taken.
Candidates are not allowed to use a dictionary in any of these tests.
Where students wish to use a laptop or PC to complete an MFL exam, they may have a card in the exam with a list of keyboard shortcuts for accents and special characters etc. The school or college must ensure that no other information is printed or written on the card and that the student has no access to any network or to the internet via the laptop/PC. Alternatively, students can add accents/special characters in pen to their printed response once they have completed the exam. We recommend the first option, since adding the accents/special character after printing (rather than at the time of writing, using keyboard shortcuts) tends to lead to more errors and omissions. If students do choose to add the accents in pen after printing this must be done within the time limit of the exam and not after the time allowed for the exam has passed.
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Listening tests – Foundation and Higher
Requirements
1 Materials required:
- CD and CD player
- candidate question and answer booklets
- transcript of the recording
- a copy of these instructions
- a copy of the JCQ document Instructions for Conducting Examinations. 2 The tests will be provided on CD with the pauses built into the recording. The Foundation and Higher recordings will be on separate CDs. Preparation
3 Each school or college will be supplied with three copies of the recordings per 75 candidates entered, ie:
Number of candidates Number of copies
1– 76– 151–
3 copies 6 copies 9 copies (and so on).
If further copies of CDs are required please contact dispatches@aqa.org.uk. Schools and colleges must not make their own copies of the CDs – only copies provided by AQA may be used.
4 The listening test CDs and transcripts must be treated as confidential exam materials and should
be stored in accordance with the JCQ document Instructions for Conducting Examinations. The
recordings must not be checked prior to the exam. The content of the material must not be
disclosed to candidates prior to the exam.
5 In order to ensure that the quality of playback is not impaired, schools and colleges should ensure that CDs are kept:
- out of direct sunlight
- away from magnetic sources
- away from sources of direct heat.
6 The machine(s) which will be used to play the CDs for the tests should be checked and serviced. Particular attention should be given to ensure clear sound reproduction. It is important that the CD should be played on a dedicated CD player or on an uncluttered PC with a CD drive due to the amount of memory and RAM needed to play a CD on a PC.
7 Checks should be made on rooms to find those most suitable for listening tests. The following points should be considered:
- external speakers for the CD player (or headphones if the test will be played in a language laboratory)
- curtains or carpets to reduce echo
- no outside noise.
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8 Spare CD players/PCs should be available in case of emergency.
9 The equipment should be set up and tested at least 30 minutes before the start of the tests. NOTE: You must not rip files from the CD to a computer network/language laboratory or other device, as this could cause playback issues during the exam.
If you plan to use the school/college computer network, language laboratory rather than a CD player, you need to download the listening files from Centre Services – see instructions below under ‘Digitising listening tests’.
Digitising listening tests
10 Storing Listening Tests on a school or college’s computer network or language laboratory.
For the purposes of digitising the listening tests on a school or college’s computer network, schools and colleges may have access to the confidential Listening material up to one working day before the exam. If a listening test is on a Monday, this can be done on the previous Friday. Prior permission does not need to be sought from AQA.
Do not rip the files from one of the CDs sent with the confidential materials packs, as this could cause playback issues during the exam. You need to download the listening materials from our secure extranet site.
The listening test audio files in MP3 format can be found on Centre Services - these files are set to ‘Centre Administrator only’ (usually the Exams officer) access):
- Select the ‘Resources’ tab:
- Select ‘Assessment and training’
- Select language
- Select ‘GCSE’ and ‘June 2024’ options on the left to narrow down the search to the file(s)
you require.
- Create a suitably named folder in the secure location where you want to download the files
- Click on the zip file of the materials you need
- Click ‘Unzip the files to a folder I choose’
- Select the folder you created (at bullet 5 above)
- Click ‘Unzip’ to copy the files to your selected folder.
The materials must be downloaded onto a secure area of the school/college network, no earlier than one working day before the exam. If an MFL listening exam is scheduled for a Monday, we will make the files available for download on the Friday prior to the exam. For any exams scheduled for the Monday immediately after the half-term holiday, we will make the files available for downloading on the Friday immediately before the holiday.
Wherever possible, we recommend that a member of staff from the school or college’s ICT department or the Exams Officer undertakes this task. The material must be downloaded to the secure part of a school or college’s network, ie the part of the network which is only accessible to ICT staff and not to students, until the permitted time.
Languages teachers are not allowed to check the recordings after the confidential material has been downloaded onto the secure network.
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The length of all pauses is extended by 25% in this version of the recording. If schools and colleges use a CD or download of the standard recording for students entitled to 25% extra time, the invigilator should pause the recording manually on hearing the bleep, to give candidates extra time to write their answer. The invigilator should allocate extra time across the whole test, up to the maximum extra time, according to the needs of the student(s).
Problems
19 If the test is interrupted, for example by external noise or by the illness of a student, the test should be allowed to continue in accordance with the instructions unless the circumstances are exceptional. No part of the recording should be replayed. If it is considered that candidates have been disadvantaged, an application for special consideration should be submitted via the Exams Officer. If there is no disadvantage to candidates but the recording has been stopped, AQA must be informed immediately of the incident in writing and this should be sent to irregularities@aqa.org.uk.
20 If the CD player/PC breaks down during the test, candidates must be supervised in silence and must not be allowed to write. The CD should be transferred to the standby machine and the test continued. Notify irregularities@aqa.org.uk in writing immediately after completion of the test.
Speaking tests – Foundation and Higher
These tests will be conducted by the teacher-examiner and marked by AQA examiners. Candidates must have only one attempt at the speaking test before certification.
All staff involved with the conduct of the Speaking tests must be familiar with the latest version of the Instructions for the conduct of the exams (2024) , our training webinar and support materials prior to conducting the tests.
Please note : AQA does not supply any media for schools or colleges to record their speaking tests. Recording speaking tests
All speaking tests must be recorded and a complete and unedited audio recording for each student must be made available to AQA’s examiners.
Recording speaking tests
All speaking tests must be recorded and a complete and unedited audio recording for each student must be made available to AQA’s examiners.
Schools and colleges may wish to use one of the free audio recording applications available commercially to record their speaking tests. If such applications are used, student recordings must be saved in one of the acceptable file formats as stated in the Digital Media Portal guidance. No other format will be accepted. Schools and colleges must ensure that they check all recordings have been saved as an acceptable file type before uploading to the Digital Media Portal for marking.
Schools and colleges may also like to consider using digital voice recorders which automatically record in an acceptable file format, produce very clear recordings and do not need an external microphone.
For 2024 we are again accepting recordings of speaking tests via the Digital Media Portal. We will not accept speaking tests recorded on any other medium. Please do not send CDs or memory sticks.
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The Digital Media Portal will be available from at least one week prior to the last date of the assessment window and submissions should be made between this date and within one working day of the last date of the assessment window.
You can find all the information you need on our website, including guidance on uploading files and checking the status of your submissions.
The deadline for submitting the GCSE MFL audio files and accompanying documentation (see below) is Monday 20 May 2024
We also require the following supporting documents to be uploaded to the Digital Media Portal along with the submission of recordings:
- Scanned attendance register(s) signed by the invigilator, with the name of the teacher- examiner(s) added clearly (to show which student tests were conducted by which teacher).
Individual candidate recordings should be saved in an acceptable file format. The filename must contain the centre number, component code, and candidate number, eg 55217_8698SF_0041.mp3.
Please keep a copy of the recordings in case of loss.
Requirements
1 Materials required for each test:
- recording device
- MFL additional answer sheets (for notes on role-plays and photo cards)
- Teacher’s booklet
- two sets of role-play and photo cards (for each of Foundation and Higher tiers)
- a copy of these Instructions
- a copy of the JCQ Instructions for Conducting Examinations. Where schools or colleges require more than the standard set of two speaking test packs, because more than one teacher is timetabled to conduct speaking tests at the same time, they can either:
- request additional packs from dispatches@aqa.org.uk no later than Friday 8 March 2024
or
- download additional materials from Centre Services. Centre administrator access only – teacher passwords do not provide access to these materials until after end of the confidential speaking test window. Photocopying or other duplication of the confidential speaking test material is not permitted because of the need to ensure consistent quality of printing and because of the requirement to ensure that the confidentiality of the materials is maintained. The exams officer for the school or college can download the material directly from Centre Services during the confidential speaking test window and it is his/her responsibility to ensure that the materials are printed under secure conditions and treated in exactly the same way as the hard copy confidential speaking test packs supplied by AQA in advance of the exam period.
There is no requirement to produce multiple packs of materials for the speaking tests – as well as their own copy of the Teacher’s booklet containing all the materials, each teacher conducting the tests only needs two sets of student cards, one set for use in the exam room by the student being tested and the
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preparation, they must return it to the Exams Officer to be locked in secure storage for any period of time when they are not using it. For example, if a teacher-examiner has to pause their preparation in order to teach a class, the material must be booked back in to secure storage via the Exams Officer. Locking the confidential material in a desk drawer or cupboard in a departmental area of the school/college, for example, is not permitted. This requirement should be taken into account when teacher-examiners plan for their preparation of the confidential materials.
Any notes completed by the teacher-examiner during his/her preparation must remain with the confidential materials and must be signed in and out of secure storage in the same way. Both the confidential assessment material and any notes completed by the teacher-examiner during his/her preparation must be treated as confidential until the end of the test window published on the exam timetable.
The confidential assessment material and any notes completed by the teacher-examiner during his/her preparation must not be removed from school premises under any circumstances. AQA relies on the professional integrity of teachers during this period but teachers are reminded that if AQA is satisfied that a breach of confidentiality has occurred, it reserves the right to take such action as it deems necessary in the circumstances.
Teachers must also ensure that all candidates are familiar with JCQ’s Information for candidates Schools and colleges should display in the conduct and preparation rooms the Modern Foreign Languages Speaking Tests: warning to candidates poster during the conduct of the speaking tests. It is the responsibility of the teacher preparing candidates for the tests to ensure that candidates are aware of and understand the information contained in the notice in advance of the exam. A copy is included at the end of this document (Appendix A) and a copy will be included with the confidential speaking test materials in each series.
The content of the role-plays and photo cards must not be divulged to the candidates before the start of the preparation period on the day of their speaking test. Candidates may only nominate the first theme for discussion in the general conversation. Candidates must not know the questions they will be asked during the general conversation, nor must they know in advance the topics or sub-topics they will be tested on.
The teacher-examiner should study the role-playing situations, photo cards and topics for the general conversation. It is most important that teachers are thoroughly conversant with these materials. The teacher-examiner should also prepare starter questions for the general conversation which can be adapted to the ability and interests of the candidates they are testing.
During the confidential speaking test window, teachers must not email AQA queries referring to the confidential content of the speaking test materials. Any urgent queries during the speaking test window, including the teacher’s preparation time, relating to the content of the materials (as opposed to administrative queries) must be made by telephoning AQA on 01423 534381 – please ask to speak to the MFL Curriculum team who have access to the materials.
Under no circumstances may teachers share information or ask questions relating to the confidential content of the speaking test materials on social media, including closed groups, or via any other medium such as email. Any breach of this instruction will be investigated by AQA.
No access to the confidential speaking test materials before Tuesday 26 March 2024 is permitted under any circumstances.
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5 Checks should be made to find the most suitable rooms for conducting the tests. The following points should be considered:
- the layout and arrangement of the rooms to be used for the preparation and conduct of the tests
- no outside noise
- use of a small room, with curtains and/or carpet, for a high quality recording
- adequate space to set out the materials for the test
- the positioning of the recording equipment to ensure maximum recording quality of both teacher-examiner and candidate
- the recording equipment should be set up and tested at least 30 minutes before the start of the test.
- the removal of posters/wall charts etc, if these provide additional resources in both the preparation and conduct rooms.
Extreme care needs to be taken in all technical aspects of the recording of the tests to ensure that student’ performances are not wholly or partially inaudible. Schools and colleges are responsible for ensuring that an audible recording is available for each student. Poor quality recordings can result in candidates being disadvantaged.
6 Teachers should remind candidates that they must not have access to any unauthorised material such as books, papers, mobile phones or any electronic devices during the test, including the 12 minutes’ preparation time. Teachers should refer to the JCQ Instructions for Conducting Examinations for further clarification.
7 Candidates must not have access to a dictionary during any part of the test. This includes the 12 minutes’ preparation period.
Supervision requirements
8 As the time allowances for the Foundation and Higher tests are different, we recommend that groups of candidates doing the Foundation test should be examined separately from those taking the Higher test. However, this decision ultimately rests with individual teachers/schools. Because the tests are conducted in accordance with the sequence chart provided by AQA in the teacher’s booklet, there is no requirement to supervise candidates before the preparation time or after the tests. Candidates must, however, be supervised during the 12 minutes’ preparation period.
The invigilator for the preparation period must be an appropriate person nominated by the Head of Centre to carry out the role and they should be fully trained in the requirements of the tests and their specific duties before they are permitted to invigilate any tests.
9 Candidates taking the Foundation test require one Foundation role-play card and one Foundation photo card. Candidates taking the Higher test require one Higher role-play card and one Higher photo card.
In order to determine which cards each student is to be tested upon, teachers should refer to the sequence chart in the teacher’s booklet for the tier, paying particular attention to the student’s nominated first general conversation Theme. There is a separate sequence chart for Foundation and for Higher. Each sequence should be followed independently.
The student will already have chosen the first theme for the general conversation (see para 21). The second theme is determined by the sequence chart in the teacher’s booklet.
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minutes’ preparation time and the teacher-examiner is not ready to start the test, the student must be asked to stop their preparation by the invigilator, turn over their notes and cards so they are not visible and remain under supervision until the teacher-examiner is ready to start the test. After the student has completed the 12 minutes’ preparation period, he/she should move to the exam room, remaining under supervision and retaining his/her copies of the role-play card and photo card. Any notes on the role-play card and photo card made by the student on the MFL additional answer sheet/exam stationery should be taken into the exam room to be used during the first two parts of the test.
Format of the tests
13 The format of the test is the same for each tier and consists of three parts, which must be conducted in this order.
Part 1 – Role-play Role-play task based on a card which has been prepared by the student immediately before the test. Candidates entered for Foundation Tier will carry out one role-playing situation (approximately two minutes in total). Candidates entered for Higher Tier will carry out one role-playing situation (approximately two minutes in total).
Part 2 – Photo card This part of the test consists of a photo card which has been prepared by the student in the preparation time. The teacher-examiner will ask five prescribed questions. Three of these questions are printed on the candidate’s card and will have been prepared during the preparation time. These are the only five questions that are asked. No supplementary questions must be asked. When the student has answered the fifth question, the teacher-examiner should collect the notes made by the student during the preparation time and the role-play and photo cards and move on to the general conversation.
Candidates entered for Foundation Tier will discuss one photo card (a maximum of two minutes in total). Candidates entered for Higher Tier will discuss one photo card (a maximum of three minutes in total).
Part 3 – General conversation The general conversation will cover the two themes not covered on the photo card. This conversation will last between 3 and 5 minutes at Foundation and 5 and 7 minutes at Higher. A similar amount of time must be spent on each theme. The student will already have chosen the first theme for discussion and the second theme is specified in the sequence chart in the teacher’s booklet.
Candidates are not allowed to choose topics (or sub-topics) for the first theme for discussion, just the theme itself (either Theme 1: Identity and culture, or Theme 2: Local, national, international and global areas of interest, or Theme 3: Current and future study and employment).
It is not permissible for teachers to narrow the scope of questions to candidates’ preferred areas discussed with candidates in advance of the speaking test. Candidates must not in any circumstances know in advance which questions or topic areas within the themes being discussed will be covered in their own test.
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Conduct of the tests
14 The teacher-examiner conducting the test must ensure that everything which is said to the student during the test is clearly audible on the recording. Nothing should be whispered. If the teacher- examiner feels that a student requires a prompt or explanation of any kind, including the provision of an item of obviously unknown vocabulary, this must be given clearly and audibly without stopping the recording. At no time should any other communication, apart from that involved in the test itself, take place between the teacher-examiner and the student.
The only part of the speaking test where the student is required to use either the formal or informal form of ‘you’ in the target language is the role-play. Teachers and candidates can use whichever form of ‘you’ they would normally use for the photo card and general conversation sections of the speaking test.
15 The teacher-examiner should make sure that the student is settled, record the introduction (student details, etc as specified in paragraph 36), check that the equipment is still on ‘record’ and then begin the test. The recording must not be paused or stopped after the introduction (candidate details etc).
The recording equipment must not be stopped or paused during the recording of the test, including after the recording of the candidate details at the start of the test, except in an emergency. Non- compliance with this instruction may result in an investigation by AQA.
16 Part 1 – Role-play The teacher-examiner should conduct the role-playing situation appropriate to the candidate’s tier of entry.
The teacher-examiner should start by saying in the target language ‘We will start with the role-play’ and should begin the role-play using the introductory text and form of address specified on the card. Teachers can choose any appropriate form of words for this, for example:
French: On va commencer avec la première situation, c’est le jeu de rôle numéro … German: Wir beginnen mit dem Rollenspiel Nummer … Spanish: Vamos a hacer el juego de rol número ... Teacher-examiners must adhere to the script. They may change the target language script given only if the candidate’s response makes it inappropriate. They may repeat, but they cannot rephrase. If the student does not respond to the teacher’s prompt, the teacher should either repeat the prompt or say ‘the question’ in the target language to remind the student that they are expecting to hear the question task. However, once a candidate has given a complete response to a task, the teacher-examiner cannot repeat a question to try to elicit a different response. The only exception to this is if the task specifies, for example, ‘give two details’ and the candidate has given only one detail. In this situation, the teacher-examiner can ask for the second detail by asking, for example, ‘And …?’ or ‘Anything else?’ etc, in the target language. If the candidate starts to give an incorrect response (maybe because they are responding to the wrong task as they consult their notes), the teacher-examiner can interrupt by exactly repeating the prompt on the Teacher’s role. If the candidate then gives a correct reply, two marks are awarded for communication and the initial incorrect part-answer is ignored when awarding the mark for knowledge and use of language.
If the teacher-examiner supplies key vocabulary, candidates cannot be rewarded for it. Candidates may use any notes they have made on the MFL additional answer sheet during the preparation period. There
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This section of the test should take a maximum of two minutes at Foundation tier and a maximum of three minutes at Higher tier.
It is essential that teacher-examiners use a stopwatch at the start of this section of the test to ensure that they adhere to these timings. Timing begins when the teacher-examiner asks ‘what is in the photo?’ If the teacher-examiner is asking a question, or if the candidate is still answering a question when the maximum time allowed has been reached, the candidate is allowed to give his/her full response even if this takes him/her beyond the maximum time and this will be eligible for credit. No additional questions can be asked after that.
19 The teacher-examiner must collect in the role-play and photo cards and any notes made by the candidate on the MFL additional answer sheets as soon as the photo card section of the test is completed. For clarity, it is recommended that the teacher asks the student to hand over their notes at this point, using any suitable (and clearly audible) phrase in the target language, for example: French: Donne-moi tes notes et les cartes, s’il te plaît. German: Gib mir bitte deine Papiere. Spanish: Dame tus apuntes y las tarjetas, por favor. Such notes must be stored under secure conditions in the school or college until results day, after which they must be disposed of. The role-play and photo cards must be replaced in the appropriate set as soon as the test is over. All confidential materials must be accounted for during the confidential test window and teacher preparation time.
20 Part 3 – General conversation The general conversation is based on the two themes not covered in the photo card. The first theme discussed is chosen by the candidate in advance of the test and notified to the teacher-examiner (there is no need to inform AQA in advance, though the teacher-examiner will be required to announce it on the recording). This should not be done on the day of the test, because the teacher-examiner will want to prepare beforehand. See the sequence chart in the teacher’s booklet for the correct allocation of the second theme. Teacher-examiners can choose any topics and sub-topics on which to base the questions for each theme. There is no requirement to cover a specific number of topics or sub-topics. This is at the discretion of the teacher-examiner.
The teacher-examiner should indicate the start of the conversation by saying in the target language ‘Now, the conversation beginning with Theme … .’ Teachers can choose any appropriate form of words for this, for example:
French: Et maintenant, la conversation. D’abord, le thème numéro … German: Und jetzt die Konversation. Zuerst Thema … Spanish: Y ahora la conversación. Empezamos con el tema … Before discussion of the second conversation theme begins, the teacher-examiner should indicate this by saying ‘And now, the second conversation theme, Theme 1/2/3’ in the target language. Teachers can choose any appropriate form of words for this, for example, for example:
French: On va changer de thème et on va parler au sujet du thème numéro … German: Und jetzt machen wir Thema … Spanish: Cambiamos de tema y ahora es el tema …
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In this section of the test, if the teacher-examiner feels that a candidate requires a prompt or explanation of any kind, including the provision of an item of obviously unknown vocabulary, this must be given clearly and audibly without stopping the recording. At no time should any other communication, apart from that involved in the test itself, take place between the teacher-examiner and the candidate. No credit will be given for vocabulary supplied by the teacher-examiner.
The conversation should develop as naturally as possible, within the specified themes only. A similar amount of time must be spent on each theme. At least one and a half minutes must be spent on each theme at Foundation tier and at least two and a half minutes on each theme at Higher tier. If less than this amount of time is spent on a theme, then the maximum mark for communication is the equivalent mark in the band below. For example if a mark of 8 would be awarded, this is reduced to a mark of 6.
If a teacher-examiner only covers one theme in the general conversation or covers the same theme in the general conversation as in the photo card, the maximum mark for communication is 5 out of 10. The other criteria are not affected.
The teacher-examiner should introduce the second theme, in the target language, when this starts.
This section of the test should take 3–5 minutes at Foundation tier and 5–7 minutes at Higher tier.
It is essential that teacher-examiners use a stopwatch at the start of this section of the test to ensure that they adhere to these timings. The timing and the assessment of the conversation begins when the teacher-examiner asks the first question on the nominated theme, so anything before that cannot be credited as being part of the general conversation section of the exam. The student’s question to the teacher-examiner cannot therefore be asked before the teacher-examiner has asked the first question on the nominated theme. Timing of the second theme also begins when the first question is asked and ends when the teacher-examiner says ‘End of test’. If the teacher-examiner is asking a question, or if the candidate is still answering a question, when the maximum time allowed has been reached, the candidate is allowed to give his/her full response even if this takes him/her beyond the maximum time. No additional questions can be asked after that.
21 During the conversation, the teacher-examiner should put questions and direct the conversation so as to encourage each candidate to demonstrate as wide a range of conversational and linguistic skills as possible within his/her capabilities. This cannot be achieved by the rigid use of a list of prepared questions. It is also not in candidates’ interests to restrict them to a simpler level than that at which they are capable of performing, nor to ask candidates questions which are too difficult for them either linguistically or conceptually.
The starter questions in the teacher’s booklet are examples of the type of questions teacher-examiners may ask candidates. There are two example questions per specification topic under each of the three themes. Whilst these questions are examples of the type of questions teacher-examiners may choose to ask, they are neither prescriptive nor exhaustive. Within the specified themes, teacher-examiners should choose topics which reflect the individual candidate’s interests and ask questions commensurate with the candidate’s linguistic ability. When asking questions on a particular theme, some candidates may be able to hold an excellent conversation on just one topic or even sub-topic within that theme, showing development of ideas in a specific area. Other candidates may not have such in-depth knowledge and/or linguistic expertise to be able to concentrate on such a specific area, and so will take part in a conversation on a wider range of topics or sub-topics within each of the two themes.
Remember: it is a requirement for the student to ask the teacher-examiner a question during the general conversation. This can happen at any time during this section of the test. If, towards the end of
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26 General conversation If the candidate is unable to answer a question in the general conversation, the teacher-examiner should phrase the question more simply or try a related, though different, question. Failing that, the teacher should move to a simpler question on another topic or sub-topic of the theme. If a teacher- examiner inadvertently strays into a theme which is not part of the general conversation for a particular candidate, they should move their questioning back into the correct theme as soon as this is realised.
27 General The recording must not be stopped, paused or interrupted until the end of the candidate’s test, except in an emergency. The recording must not be stopped between the introduction (candidate details etc) and the start of the test itself. If an emergency arises which makes it necessary to interrupt a test, a note of explanation must be sent to the AQA examiner with the recordings. If the test is interrupted by external factors, such as noise or someone entering the room, the teacher- examiner must continue with the test if the interruption is unlikely to obscure the candidate’s recording. Otherwise, the recording should be allowed to run but the test should not be continued until the interruption has ceased. The recording must not be stopped unless the interruption is lengthy or very disruptive. If the recording is stopped, a note explaining the circumstances must be sent to the AQA examiner with the recordings. In the event of a lengthy interruption such as a fire alarm requiring full evacuation of the school/college, the recording should be paused, the student concerned should be supervised at all times during the interruption and once the interruption is over, the test should be resumed with the same materials and continued until the test is completed, ie all three sections. A note should be put in with the recordings when sending paperwork to the AQA examiner to explain why a particular student’s test was stopped, ie full fire evacuation. If such an interruption distresses a student which impacts on the rest of their test after the interruption, then an application for special consideration can be submitted.
28 If the candidate appears too upset to continue the test, he/she should nevertheless be encouraged to continue. The recording must not be stopped unless it is absolutely essential to do so, in which case a note explaining the circumstances must be sent to the examiner with the recordings. The candidate must not be re-tested on another occasion. If there are medical reasons for the candidate’s inability to continue, an application for special consideration should be submitted in line with the instructions contained in the JCQ document Access Arrangements, Reasonable Adjustments and Special Consideration via the Exams officer.
29 Candidates who are eligible for extra time in their exams because of difficulties with reading and/or writing can only use this extra time, in speaking tests, for the preparation time.
If a candidate is eligible for extra time because of a learning difficulty or speech impediment which will affect the speed of their spoken communication in the speaking test, then they may be eligible for extra time during the speaking test. A separate application must be made by contacting accessarrangementsqueries@aqa.org.uk
We offer an exemption for candidates with speech impediments. A separate application must be made by contacting accessarrangementsqueries@aqa.org.uk
For any other issues about access arrangements, please email: accessarrangementsqueries@aqa.org.uk
30 The only circumstances in which a candidate can be re-tested are if:
- the test has not been recorded or is wholly inaudible
- a candidate’s test is lost through over-recording
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- there is a technical malfunction during the test
- it is realised during the confidential test window that a whole section of the test (eg role-play or photo card) has been omitted or is missing, the candidate should be retested using different cards and the original test discarded
- a candidate accidentally completes a whole test at the wrong tier of entry (in this case the whole test must be redone at the correct tier within the confidential window and the original test discarded)
- a candidate is accidentally given the wrong tier of role-play or photo card by the teacher-examiner (in this case the whole test must be retaken within the confidential window)
- a candidate is accidentally tested on the wrong role-play or photo card by the teacher-examiner (ie not the one they prepared during the preparation time) and the error is realised before the candidate leaves the test room , then the correct role-play or photo card task must be done at the end of the test and a note added for the AQA examiner about which task to mark. If the error it is not realised until after the candidate has left the test room, the candidate is not allowed to return to complete that part of the test and the whole test must be redone using different cards during the confidential window.
- it is realised either during the preparation period or immediately before the test begins that the student has been inadvertently given the wrong photo card to prepare which would lead to just two of the three themes being covered. In this scenario, the preparation time may be re-started using a different sequence of cards (following a different row on the sequence chart). A different role play and photo card must be used and the student must prepare both of these during the (restarted) preparation period of 12 minutes, with the speaking test then conducted in the normal way. The restarted preparation period and test should take place as soon as the error is noted. Subsequent candidates should be alerted to any significant delay which may occur to the timing of their test that day as a result of this issue. The candidate concerned should be re-tested as soon as possible after the end of the particular session. It is essential that a different role-play and photo card are used. A note stating the circumstances must be sent to the AQA examiner with the recordings. If the teacher-examiner feels that the candidate has been disadvantaged by these circumstances, an application for special consideration should be submitted for the candidate concerned in line with the instructions contained in the JCQ document Access Arrangements, Reasonable Adjustments and Special Consideration via the Exams officer.
AQA will not normally consider an error in the conduct of the test on the part of the teacher-examiner as justifying an application for special consideration. For example, the teacher failing to prompt a candidate to ask a question during the general conversation (if the candidate had not already done so), a candidate missing out an utterance in the role-play, or the teacher not following the sequence chart correctly meaning that only 2 of the 3 themes are covered are not grounds for a retest or special consideration and will be dealt with through the normal marking process.
After the tests
31 As soon as all the tests are completed for the school or college, the recordings must be kept secure.
The Media Submissions Portal will be available from at least one week prior to the last date of the assessment window and submissions should be made between this date and within one working day of the last date of the assessment window. You can find all the information you need on our website, including guidance on uploading files and checking the status of your submissions.
The deadline for submitting the GCSE MFL audio files and accompanying documentation (see page 8) is Monday 20 May 2024 As the recordings are being uploaded via a secure portal, there is no requirement to encrypt recordings of MFL speaking tests.
