can you pass GCSE french without doing the speaking exam?

for context, I am in year 11 and picking a language to study was mandatory (however it is possible to drop it, this will be important later)
not sure what the exam board is but I think it's edexcel.
to make a long story short, I'm autistic and have been bullied a lot as a result which has rendered me almost entirely nonverbal in classroom situations. as a result, I will be incapable of doing the French speaking exam as i physically will not be able to get any words out of my mouth. picturing it in my head right now I already know that I'll end up unable to speak during it, and if pushed ill probably have a meltdown.
this begs the question: can you pass French without doing the speaking exam? because if I can't then I see no reason to actually be doing the subject at all when I could be using the time to study genuinely beneficial subjects like maths and English. I plan to talk to my year head about pulling me out of the subject because of this (and for other reasons I care not to discuss here) but I haven't been able to find a conclusive answer to this question anywhere online. anything helps, thanks :smile:

Reply 1

MindMax2000

Universities Forum Helper

21

Original post by dokuropilled

for context, I am in year 11 and picking a language to study was mandatory (however it is possible to drop it, this will be important later)
not sure what the exam board is but I think it's edexcel.
to make a long story short, I'm autistic and have been bullied a lot as a result which has rendered me almost entirely nonverbal in classroom situations. as a result, I will be incapable of doing the French speaking exam as i physically will not be able to get any words out of my mouth. picturing it in my head right now I already know that I'll end up unable to speak during it, and if pushed ill probably have a meltdown.
this begs the question: can you pass French without doing the speaking exam? because if I can't then I see no reason to actually be doing the subject at all when I could be using the time to study genuinely beneficial subjects like maths and English. I plan to talk to my year head about pulling me out of the subject because of this (and for other reasons I care not to discuss here) but I haven't been able to find a conclusive answer to this question anywhere online. anything helps, thanks :smile:

When I was doing my GCSE in French, I have received A and A* grades (7-9s) in 3/4 tests in the subject. I received a 0 in the speaking purely because the obnoxious examiner could not understand my accent. I ended up passing the GCSE with a B. It was a complete slap in the face, but it also goes to show that I have passed the GCSE without getting any marks in the speaking.

I don't know what the syllabus and grading requirements are for the new GCSEs, but if they are like anything of the old GCSEs, you should be able to get away without having to do the speaking component at all, provided your grades in the otrher tests are high enough.

Reply 2

A2324

8

I believe that the pass mark for most exam boards for French is around 40%-50%, and the speaking counts for 25%, so if you can get most of the rest of the papers right then it's definitely possible

Reply 3

Heather47

1

Original post by dokuropilled

for context, I am in year 11 and picking a language to study was mandatory (however it is possible to drop it, this will be important later)
not sure what the exam board is but I think it's edexcel.
to make a long story short, I'm autistic and have been bullied a lot as a result which has rendered me almost entirely nonverbal in classroom situations. as a result, I will be incapable of doing the French speaking exam as i physically will not be able to get any words out of my mouth. picturing it in my head right now I already know that I'll end up unable to speak during it, and if pushed ill probably have a meltdown.
this begs the question: can you pass French without doing the speaking exam? because if I can't then I see no reason to actually be doing the subject at all when I could be using the time to study genuinely beneficial subjects like maths and English. I plan to talk to my year head about pulling me out of the subject because of this (and for other reasons I care not to discuss here) but I haven't been able to find a conclusive answer to this question anywhere online. anything helps, thanks :smile:

Hi, did you get a conclusive answer on this? I am in (oddly) the almost exact same situation, and I'm not sure what to do about my French speaking? Thank you :smile:

can you pass GCSE french without doing the speaking exam?

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