The Arabic GCSE course consists of activities that develop the four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing. All skills are examined separately at the end of Year 11 and each skill is worth 25% of the overall GCSE grade. There is no coursework or controlled assessment as part of this new curriculum.

Topics covered

The topics they will study throughout Key Stage 4 are the following:

• Identity and culture: who am I?, daily life, cultural life
• Local area, holiday and travel: holidays, travel and tourist attractions, town, region and country
• School: what is School like? School activities
• Future aspirations, study and work: using languages beyond the classroom, ambitions, work
• International and global dimension: bringing the world together, environmental issues

Assessment

Students will take an exam paper at the end of Year 11 in each of the following skills:

• Listening (25% of final mark)
• Speaking (25% of final mark)
• Reading (25% of final mark)
• Writing (25% of final mark) 

There are both foundation and higher papers in each skill, although students are not allowed to mix entries between skills, so they will be entered for all foundation or all higher. There will also be mock GCSE speaking exams in Year 10 and Year 11 to prepare students for the rigours of these exams.