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How many marks do you lose if you hesitate during a speaking exam?

Today during my German speaking I blanked at the beginning of one of the paragraphs and hesitated for around 3-4 seconds before continuing as normal. My teacher told my class before hand that if you hesitate you may lose communication marks and I was wondering how many marks that blank has cost me. I'm aiming for an A* and my written piece was A* grade (marked by my teachers) and everything else I said perfectly with a good accent (I think) so will I still be able to get an A*? Thanks!

Reply 1

lostintrnslation

One mark at the very most. You probably won't lose any marks, you get marked down if you do that consistently. That's what I found when I did mine, I did French and German on AQA.

Reply 2

jelly3729

Original post by lostintrnslation

One mark at the very most. You probably won't lose any marks, you get marked down if you do that consistently. That's what I found when I did mine, I did French and German on AQA.

Thank you so much! I've been stressing about that since I got home so that reply is very comforting for me :smile:

Reply 3

lostintrnslation

Original post by sophee642

Thank you so much! I've been stressing about that since I got home so that reply is very comforting for me :smile:

You're welcome, don't worry too much though because even if the worst does happen, you can resit as it is coursework. Hope everything is fine though :smile:

Reply 4

xxKristenxx

When I did my French speaking exam I paused at one point for about five seconds before continuing and I still got 29/30 marks which is an A*. I do not know if I lost that one mark because of hesitation but it goes to show that you can still achieve an A* with hesitation.

Reply 5

φM23

Original post by sophee642

When I did my AS German speaking, the examiner said to us that we shouldn't worry if we stutter slightly, and that Germans stutter too when they speak! I wouldn't worry :smile:

Reply 6

username2698513

I've paused and had mind blanks before, but still got full marks in my speakings. I wouldn't worry about it, unless it is constant and for 10+ seconds.

Reply 7

jelly3729

Original post by PhyM23

When I did my AS German speaking, the examiner said to us that we shouldn't worry if we stutter slightly, and that Germans stutter too when they speak! I wouldn't worry :smile:

Thanks! That's incredibly reassuring :smile:

Reply 8

jelly3729

Original post by AcornFalls

I've paused and had mind blanks before, but still got full marks in my speakings. I wouldn't worry about it, unless it is constant and for 10+ seconds.

Thanks! It was just the once and it wasn't for 10+ seconds so your comment really calmed my nerves :smile:

Reply 9

φM23

Original post by sophee642

Thanks! That's incredibly reassuring :smile:

No problem at all! :smile:

Reply 10

jelly3729

Original post by xxKristenxx

Thank you! Reading all these replies I think I can breathe a sigh of relief haha :h:

Reply 11

Evilstr99

They shouldn't drop too many marks for that. This s a natural reflex, everybody hesitates, they're only trying to gather information into their brain before they say it out loud fluently.