AQA
AQA GCSE French (8658)
Spec code 8658 · v2024 · valid from 2024
5 domains · 27 topics
Mastered In progress Not started Higher tier
T1
Theme 1 — People and lifestyle
3 topics- T1.1Identity and relationships with others — family, friends, marriage and partnership; describing people and personalities
- T1.2Healthy living and lifestyle — diet, exercise, sleep, health problems and how to lead a healthier life
- T1.3Education and work — school subjects and routines, school rules, post-16 study, career plans and the world of work
T2
Theme 2 — Popular culture
3 topics- T2.1Free-time activities — hobbies, sports, music, TV and film, reading; how young people spend their time
- T2.2Customs, festivals and celebrations — French and francophone festivals (e.g. la Fête de la Musique, Mardi Gras, le 14 juillet), family celebrations, food traditions
- T2.3Celebrity culture — celebrities and influencers, the role of social media, positive and negative aspects of celebrity culture
T3
Theme 3 — Communication and the world around us
3 topics- T3.1Travel and tourism, including places of interest — holidays, transport, hotels, descriptions of places and cultural sites in francophone countries
- T3.2Media and technology — social media, mobile phones, internet, cyber-safety, digital habits
- T3.3The environment and where people live — town vs country, environmental problems and solutions, weather and climate
G
Grammar (defined grammar list)
14 topics- G.NNouns — gender (masculine/feminine), singular and plural, articles (definite, indefinite, partitive)
- G.AAdjectives — agreement, position (before/after the noun), comparative (plus/moins...que) and superlative (le plus/le moins)
- G.ADAdverbs — formation in -ment, irregular adverbs (bien, mal, vite); intensifiers (très, assez, trop)
- G.PROPronouns — subject, direct object (le, la, les), indirect object (lui, leur), reflexive, y, en, relative (qui, que), disjunctive (moi, toi…)
- G.V.PRESVerbs — present tense of regular -er, -ir, -re verbs; key irregulars (être, avoir, aller, faire, pouvoir, vouloir, devoir, savoir, prendre, mettre, venir, partir, dormir, sortir)
- G.V.PCPerfect tense (le passé composé) with avoir and être, including agreements with être and with preceding direct objects
- G.V.IMPImperfect tense (l'imparfait) — formation, contrast with the perfect; talking about ongoing past states and habitual actions
- G.V.FUTNear future (aller + infinitive) and simple future tense; conditional (je voudrais, j'aimerais, on devrait)
- G.V.OTHEROther tenses and moods — pluperfect (HT), present subjunctive after il faut que (HT), the passive voice (HT)
- G.NEGNegation — ne…pas, ne…jamais, ne…rien, ne…personne, ne…plus, ne…que
- G.QQuestion forms — intonation, est-ce que, inversion; question words (qui, que, quoi, où, quand, comment, pourquoi, combien)
- G.PREPPrepositions — à, de, en (with countries, transport), depuis, pendant, pour, dans, avec, chez, sans
- G.CONJConjunctions and connectives — et, mais, ou, donc, car, parce que, puisque, alors que, par contre, cependant, ainsi que
- G.NUMNumbers, dates and times — cardinal and ordinal numbers, days, months, years, the 24-hour clock
P
Papers and assessment
4 topics- P.LPaper 1 — Listening: Section A questions in English answered in English/non-verbally; Section B dictation. Foundation 35 min + 5 min reading time, 50 marks; Higher 45 min + 5 min, 50 marks. 25% of GCSE.
- P.SPaper 2 — Speaking: role-play, reading-aloud task with short conversation, photo-card discussion, general conversation. Conducted by the teacher. F 7–9 min, H 10–12 min. 25% of GCSE.
- P.RPaper 3 — Reading: questions in English answered in English/non-verbally on French texts, plus a translation from French into English. F 45 min, H 1 hr, 50 marks. 25% of GCSE.
- P.WPaper 4 — Writing: short writing tasks, longer structured response, translation from English into French. F 1 hr 10 min, H 1 hr 15 min, 50 marks. 25% of GCSE.