Cantonese Language: GCSE

(asked on 1st February 2023) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of recruiting Chinese language teachers from Hong Kong to be GCSE examiners.


Answered by
Nick Gibb Portrait
Nick Gibb
This question was answered on 8th February 2023

The Department’s published GCSE subject content for modern foreign languages (MFL) sets out the knowledge, understanding and skills required for these GCSEs.

The MFL subject content does not set out the specific languages that exam boards can offer. Instead, exam boards decide which languages they wish to offer and develop detailed specifications in these languages that meet both the Department’s subject content requirements and Ofqual’s separate requirements for MFL qualifications. AQA offers a GCSE in Chinese (spoken Mandarin) and Pearson offers a GCSE in Chinese (spoken Mandarin/spoken Cantonese).

Exam boards are responsible for setting out the specific grammar requirements in the specifications for each of the languages they offer. These grammar requirements should represent a level of challenge and breadth that is comparable to the grammar requirements for French, German, and Spanish. These requirements are set out in the Department’s subject content. The specification must be accredited by Ofqual before it can be taught in schools. Exam boards are also responsible for recruiting examiners.

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