A-Level French 2026: AQA, Edexcel or Eduqas?

A-Level French in 2026 is a single subject examined by three different awarding bodies in England and Wales, and they do not all set the same papers or weight them the same way. Getting the board right matters before a single revision session is booked, because past papers, mark schemes and set-works lists for the wrong specification are close to useless.

In 2026 the three current boards are AQA (entry code 7652), Pearson Edexcel (9FR0) and Eduqas/WJEC (A800QS). OCR withdrew its A-Level French from provision in 2016, with a final assessment series in summer 2017 and a final resit series in summer 2018 -- a fact several exam-centre and revision pages still get wrong.

Which Exam Boards Actually Offer A-Level French in 2026?

AQA's own specification names its qualification plainly: "AQA Advanced Level GCE in French", entry code 7652, with an Ofqual qualification accreditation number (QAN) of 601/8727/X, set out in AQA's A-level French (7652) specification. Pearson Edexcel's Level 3 Advanced GCE in French specification gives its own subject code as 9FR0 and its QN as 601/8702/5. Eduqas/WJEC's A-level French specification gives its entry code as A800QS and its Qualification Accreditation Number as 603/0071/1.

OCR is not a current option. Its own subject-update notice, dated 16 May 2016, records "the difficult decision not to continue the redevelopment of GCSEs, AS and A Levels in Modern Foreign Languages (French, German and Spanish)" and confirms it would "withdraw from provision of these qualifications at the conclusion of the final assessment series", naming its A-level French entry code H475 (QN 500/2197/7) with a final assessment series of summer 2017 and a final resit series of summer 2018. That notice is the most reliable source for the withdrawal: OCR's own qualification pages return the same generic "Qualification details" shell whether the URL is real or invented, so a live-looking OCR page for French today proves nothing either way -- the dated subject-update notice is what actually confirms it.

This page covers the full A-level. For the 13+ Common Entrance and CASE French papers that a much younger age group sits for senior-school entrance -- a different exam body (ISEB, not a GCE awarding body) with its own timetable -- see our separate 13+ French guide; it is not restated here.

How Are the Four Skills Examined, Paper by Paper?

Every board sits its speaking paper at 30% of the qualification, but the other two or three papers are shaped very differently, and the mark totals are not the same either.

The 30% speaking weighting shared by all three is not a coincidence between them. It traces back to a single reform decision: DfE and Ofqual's own December 2014 decision following consultation on AS and A-level subject content fixed the non-exam assessment weighting for reformed A-level modern foreign languages at 30%, and every board that went on to write a specification for the reformed qualification built a different paper structure around that same fixed figure. AQA and Eduqas both split the remaining marks 50/20 across their other two papers; Edexcel splits it 40/30 instead. All three grade on the standard six-point A*-E scale, with a U for unclassified, as AQA's specification confirms.

What Does the Compulsory Literary Text or Film Actually Require?

Every current board examines set-work knowledge in writing, and none of them allows a candidate to build that answer around two films. AQA's specification is explicit: "Students must study either one text and one film or two texts from the list below", drawn from AQA's own list of 10 prescribed literary texts and 6 prescribed films -- a two-film combination is not an option. AQA examines this in closed-book conditions as part of Paper 2, worth 20% of the A-level.

Eduqas structures the requirement differently but arrives at the same restriction. Its specification states: "Twelve works are available for study at A level: six literary works and six films. Candidates are required to study two works, one of which must be a literary work." A film-only pairing fails that rule too. Eduqas examines the response in Component 3, "Critical and analytical response in writing (closed-book)", a two-hour paper worth 40 marks and 20% of the qualification.

Pearson Edexcel examines set-work knowledge as well, inside Paper 2, "Written response to works and translation" -- a 2 hour 40 minute paper worth 120 marks and 30% of the qualification, the largest single paper on any of the three specifications. Edexcel's own list of prescribed texts and films sits in its specification's appendices, separate from AQA's and Eduqas's lists, so a text or film chosen for one board's course cannot be assumed to appear on another's.

Why Do Students Struggle Most With the Individual Research Project?

Every current board builds a self-chosen, independently researched topic into its speaking exam, and it is consistently the part students post about on The Student Room and search for revision help with on YouTube -- more so than any other single component of the qualification. Each board names and marks it slightly differently, and the differences matter for how a student should prepare.

AQA's own specification calls it the "individual research project" and marks it as part of Paper 3: "Presentation (2 minutes) and discussion (9 – 10 minutes) of individual research project (35 marks)", inside a speaking paper that runs 21 to 23 minutes in total (including 5 minutes' preparation time), is worth 60 marks overall, and counts for 30% of the A-level. The remaining 25 marks come from a separate discussion of a sub-theme, based on a stimulus card.

Pearson Edexcel structures its speaking paper as two tasks rather than two named halves: "Students complete two tasks – Task 1 is worth 30 marks and Task 2 is worth 42 marks", inside a paper worth 72 marks overall and, again, 30% of the qualification. Task 2 is Edexcel's independent-research equivalent, and at 42 of 72 marks it carries proportionally more weight within its own paper than AQA's 35 of 60.

Eduqas builds the same research element into Component 1, its speaking paper: 21 to 23 minutes including 5 minutes' preparation, worth 60 marks and 30% of the qualification -- the same overall shape as AQA's Paper 3. Eduqas's own specification does not publish a further public breakdown of marks between the research element and the rest of Component 1, so this page does not invent one.

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Did A-Level French Grading Get Easier, Like GCSE French Did?

No -- and confusing the two is an easy mistake, because both stories involve Ofqual, French, and grade adjustments in the same few years. They are not the same event.

Ofqual's own announcement, dated 21 November 2018, was a decision not to change anything at A-level: "We are today (Wednesday 21 November) publishing our decision not to adjust grading standards in these A level subjects, based on all the evidence." That notice also records an earlier, narrower intervention -- "a small adjustment we made to grading standards in French, German and Spanish A levels in 2017 to reflect research into the impact of native speakers taking these qualifications" -- which Ofqual had separately announced on 21 April 2017: action "to ensure standards are set appropriately in A level French, German and Spanish", driven by "new research... which suggests that awarding should take into account the fact that native language speakers take these subjects." That is a statistical correction for cohort composition, not a general severity review, and it is the only real grading intervention A-level French has had.

The adjustment that actually did happen, phased into the summer 2023 and summer 2024 series, was at GCSE, not A-level. Ofqual's GCSE-specific decision states plainly: "In November 2018 we announced our decision on inter-subject comparability in A level sciences and MFL. We concluded that there was not a compelling case to adjust grading standards in these subjects... In contrast, in our review at GCSE, we judged there to be sufficient evidence, against our criteria, to support an adjustment." Our own GCSE French and German grading blog post covers that GCSE story in full; it is a different qualification from the one on this page, and its grade-boundary changes do not apply to the A-level.

For the entry-code, timetable and Common Entrance/CASE detail that sits with the 13+ exam a younger age group sits, see our separate 13+ French guide -- a different exam body, different age group, and not restated here. The wider A-Level tuition hub lists the other subjects we cover at this level.

Every figure on this page comes from the awarding bodies' own specifications, OCR's own subject-update notice, or Ofqual's and DfE's own published decisions, checked directly rather than taken from a secondary summary. Primary sources: AQA's A-level French (7652) specification, Pearson Edexcel's A-level French (9FR0) specification, Eduqas/WJEC's A-level French (A800QS) specification, OCR's MFL withdrawal notice, DfE/Ofqual's December 2014 subject-content decision, Ofqual's April 2017 grading announcement, Ofqual's November 2018 decision, and Ofqual's GCSE MFL decision. Checked 8 September 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions About A-Level French