GCSE French tutors
23 UK tutors who teach French at GCSE. £15–£130/hr · median £40
French is the most widely taught modern language in UK schools, offered at GCSE, A-level and IB. The shift from GCSE to A-level is sharper than in most subjects: A-level demands literary analysis, film study, and discussion of social and cultural themes alongside the language itself. Tutoring helps most with the speaking exam at both levels (where students freeze on unprepared questions) and with the writing papers, which reward range and accuracy in roughly equal measure. Native-speaker tutors and UK-spec-experienced tutors are different things. The best combination is both. AQA, Edexcel and Eduqas diverge on set works.
GCSE French changed for students starting in September 2024, with first assessment in summer 2026, so material written for the previous specification is now out of date in places worth knowing about. The reformed course prescribes its vocabulary, drawn from defined word lists, which makes revision more predictable than it used to be. Phonics is now explicitly assessed through read-aloud and dictation tasks, both new. Grammatical accuracy carries 20 per cent of marks and now includes accurate application of phonics. Speaking remains the part students most want help with, and the four skills are equally weighted, so a strong reader who avoids speaking practice caps their grade at three quarters of the paper.
GCSEs are sat in Year 11 (age 15-16), with most students taking 8-10 subjects. They're the main UK school qualification at 16: the 9-1 graded exams that drive sixth-form admission, apprenticeship eligibility, and (via maths and English at grade 4 or 5) university and many job prerequisites. Tutoring demand peaks here. The biggest grade gains tend to come from exam-paper technique rather than further content. Students often know more than they show. Boards (AQA, Edexcel, OCR, Eduqas, WJEC, CIE) diverge on content and assessment, so tutor familiarity with the specific spec is meaningful in most subjects.
74.1% got grade 4 or above in 2026 across the UK (JCQ). Exam boards, dates and past papers
Adam M.
Oxford Graduate & Former Head of Languages | Personalised Language Tuition | Specialist Spanish & French Tutor | Confidence from Day One
- Spanish
- French
- Arabic
- +3 more
- SpLD
- Autism
- ADHD & EF
- +2 more
Catherine C.
AQA French examiner GCSE - Native Speaker - 30 +years teaching experience - French A-Levels -KS3 teaching -Adult education - Conversation
- French
Eva K.
Experienced German/French/English/ESOL Tutor / qualified MFL teacher with 20+ years experience across Europe and UK
- German
- French
- English Language
About the GCSE French exam
Which exam board?
Your child's school will know which board they sit.
AQA · 8652
Exam dates, summer 2027
- Wednesday, 26 May 2027 Listening, morning
- Wednesday, 26 May 2027 Reading, morning
- Tuesday, 8 June 2027 Writing, afternoon
Grade boundaries, every series
Grade boundaries
| Series | Tier | Grade 4 | Grade 7 |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 2026 | Higher | 108/200 54% | 149/200 75% |
| June 2026 | Foundation | 134/200 67% | Not on this tier |
The total marks needed across all the papers. From AQA GCSE grade boundaries, June 2026.
How students do
Share of UK entries who got grade 4 or above, and who got grade 7 or above, all boards.
- 2019 70.4%·24.4%
- 2020 82.7%·30.7%
- 2021 83.6%·33.8%
- 2022 78.8%·32.1%
- 2023 71.2%·26.6%
- 2024 71.7%·28.4%
- 2025 73.3%·30.1%
- 2026 74.1%·30.7%
2020 and 2021 were teacher-assessed grades, which is why they run higher. All ages, including students resitting. From GCSE (full course) results summer, all UK candidates.
Read up before you book
Plain-English guides
About GCSE
Year groups, exam timing, and how GCSE fits into the UK qualification ladder.
Exam boards
AQA, Edexcel, OCR, Eduqas, CCEA, SQA (now Qualifications Scotland) and Cambridge International: what each is known for.
Parent guides
Cost benchmarks, online vs in-person, when to start, choosing a tutor, and knowing if it's working.
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