GCSE German
GCSE German is almost entirely a literacy qualification: learners listen to and read German, answer in English or Welsh, translate into English or Welsh, write in German about a studied work and to a stimulus, and speak for 7 to 10 minutes, with 20.5% of marks for grammar, vocabulary and sound-spelling accuracy and no dictionary in any unit. Numeracy is light and incidental: numbers 1 to 100, simple fractions, the 12 and 24 hour clock, dates, and graphs among the reading texts. The biggest thing Key Stage 3 should build is secure, dictionary-free recall of core vocabulary and grammar, used every week in short translations and independent writing and speaking.
- Awarding body
- WJEC
- Level
- Level 1 and Level 2
- First taught
- September 2025
- Amount of literacy work
- High
- Amount of numeracy work
- Low
- Specification
- Open the specification
How this qualification is assessed
- Unit 1: Oracy: Non-examination assessment, speaking test 7 to 10 minutes plus 10 minutes preparation, 60 marks, 30%
- Unit 2: Reading and Writing: Non-examination assessment 1 hour, 45 marks, 15%
- Unit 3: Listening: Written examination 45 minutes including 5 minutes reading time, 45 marks, 20%
- Unit 4: Reading and Writing: Written examination 1 hour 30 minutes, 70 marks, 35%
Skills that use Translanguaging
-
Translating from German into English or Welsh
Unit 4 includes translating sentences from German into Cymraeg or English within a context. Learners must carry meaning, tense and tone across accurately into natural English or Welsh.
Literacy: Translanguaging, Reading strategies
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils translate five short German sentences about school into English, then compare versions in pairs and agree the most natural English wording.
- Year 8
- Pupils translate a short German paragraph about a holiday, underlining each verb and checking its tense before writing the English, so past and future meaning is not lost.
- Year 9
- Pupils translate a German text on the environment into English or Welsh in timed conditions without a dictionary, then mark it against a model for meaning, tense and word order.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit 4 Reading and Writing, Areas of content, page 19
“translate sentences into Cymraeg/English within a context”
Progression step 3
I can receive information in one language and adapt it for various purposes in another language.
I can use a range of strategies to make meaning from words and sentences, including:
- knowledge of phonics
- word roots
- word families
- syntax
- text organisation
- prior knowledge of context.
Progression step 4
I can apply my translanguaging skills to support my learning in familiar and new languages.
I can use my knowledge of:
- word roots and families
- grammar, sentence and whole-text structure
- content and context
to make sense of words, sentences and whole texts.
Progression step 5
I can independently identify translanguaging opportunities to enhance my learning and communication in my languages.
I can use my knowledge of:
- word roots and families
- grammar, sentence and whole-text structure
- content and context
to make sense of words, sentences and whole texts.
Good to know
- Dictionaries are banned in every unit: "Learners are not permitted to use a dictionary in any part of the assessment." (Summary of assessment, page 5).
- Unit 1 oracy allows only the learner's own notes: "or any other reference materials excluding the learner's own notes." (Section 3.2, Unit 1, page 21). Presentation preparation is time-limited: "The preparation period for the presentation may begin two weeks prior to the first timetabled assessment." (page 22).
- Unit 2 reading and writing NEA allows no reference materials at all: "Learners are not permitted to use dictionaries in any part of the assessment, or any other reference materials." (Section 3.2, Unit 2, page 22).
- Accuracy of language is assessed directly through AO3, "Demonstrate knowledge of grammar, vocabulary and sound-spelling correspondence.", weighted 8% in Unit 1, 5% in Unit 2 and 7.5% in Unit 4, 20.5% overall (Section 3.1, page 21). There is no separate SPaG mark for English or Welsh answers.
- Productive vocabulary is tied to the Appendix B lists: "Equal but no additional credit will be given for learners who use vocabulary outside the specified list in productive tasks." (Section 2, page 10).
- Unit 3 and Unit 4 questions are answered in English or Welsh, so learners' English or Welsh must be clear enough to show understanding: "respond to a range of questions in Cymraeg/English." (Unit 3, page 17).
- Unit 3 includes reading time before listening: "Written examination: 45 minutes (including 5 minutes' reading time)" (Unit 3, page 16).
- Number knowledge is limited to a stated range: learners "are expected to know the numbers" 1 to 100 (Appendix B, Numbers, page 40). The spec sets no calculation, mentions no calculator, and states no word limits for the writing tasks or whether responses are handwritten or typed.
Links with other qualifications
WJEC's Appendix C ticks literacy listening for all four units, reading and writing for Units 2 and 4, and speaking for Units 1 and 4 (page 92), and ticks only the number system strand of numeracy, for all four units (page 93).
Source: WJEC GCSE German specification, Teaching from 2025, For award from 2027, Version 2, February 2025.