FRENCH

“Westminster Tutors is a sixth form college in London providing one-to-one tuition for A level students”

French A Level & AS Level Courses

French is the most popular modern language at Westminster Tutors and indeed our proximity to the Institut français in London makes it an excellent place to study. Students continue to develop their knowledge and understanding of the French language, broadening their vocabulary range, grammatical competence and oral fluency, and also explore the rich culture of France and other francophone countries.

Course outline

Aspects of French-speaking society: current trends

  • The changing nature of family (La famille en voie de changement)
  • The ‘cyber-society’ (La « cyber-société »)
  • The place of voluntary work (Le rôle du bénévolat)

Aspects of French-speaking society: current issues

  • Positive features of a diverse society (Les aspects positifs d’une société diverse)
  • Life for the marginalised (Quelle vie pour les marginalisés ? )
  • How criminals are treated (Comment on traite les criminels)

Artistic culture in the French-speaking world

  • A culture proud of its heritage (Une culture fière de son patrimoine)
  • Contemporary francophone music (La musique francophone contemporaine)
  • Cinema: the 7th art form (Cinéma : le septième art)

Aspects of political life in the French-speaking world

  • Teenagers, the right to vote and political commitment (Les ados, le droit de vote et l’engagement politique)
  • Demonstrations, strikes – who holds the power? (manifestations, grèves – à qui le pouvoir ? )
  • Politics and immigration (La politique et l’immigration)

Assesment

AS Level French

Paper 1: Listening, reading and writing

  • Assessment of grammar and content themes 1 and 3
  • 90 marks
  • 1 hour 45 minutes written paper
  • 45% of total AS level

Paper 2: Writing

  • Assessment of grammar and one text or one film
  • 50 marks
  • 1 hour 30 minutes written paper
  • 25% of total AS level

Speaking

  • Assessment of one sub-theme from theme 1 and one sub-theme from theme 3
  • 60 marks
  • Oral exam between 12 and 14 minutes
  • Internally conducted and externally assessed
  • 30% of total AS level

A Level French

Paper 1: Listening, reading and writing

  • Assessment of grammar and content across all four themes
  • 100 marks
  • 2 hours 30 minutes written paper
  • 50% of total A level

Paper 2: Writing

  • Assessment of grammar and two texts or one text and one film
  • 80 marks
  • 2 hours written paper
  • 20% of total A level

Speaking

  • Individual research project on one of the four themes
  • 60 marks
  • Oral exam between 21 and 23 minutes
  • Internally conducted and externally assessed
  • 30% of total A level

Set Texts

Texts

  • Molière, Le Tartuffe
  • Voltaire, Candide
  • Guy de Maupassant, Boule de Suif et autres contes de guerre
  • Albert Camus, L’étranger
  • Françoise Sagan, Bonjour tristesse
  • Claire Etcherelli, Elise ou la vraie vie
  • Joseph Joffo, Un sac de billes
  • Faïza Guène, Kiffe kiffe demain
  • Philippe Grimbert, Un secret
  • Delphine de Vigan, No et moi

Films

  • Les 400 Coups, François Truffaut (1959)
  • Au revoir les enfants, Louis Malle (1987)
  • La Haine, Mathieu Kassovitz (1995)
  • L’auberge espagnole, Cédric Klapisch (2002)
  • Un long dimanche de fiançailles, Jean-Pierre Jeunet (2004)
  • Entre les murs, Laurent Cantet (2008)

Specification

Teachers will choose the examination board for students joining in Year 12 based on their expertise and specialist knowledge. For Year 13 and retake students, teachers will continue students’ studies with AQA, Edexcel/Pearson, OCR or WJEC/Eduqas. Please note that we do not offer CIE but can more than map to one of the boards listed.

Teachers

Jessica Imberger
MA (Queen Mary), LLB (Toulouse), PGCE (UCL)

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Student studying for her A-Levels
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About Us

Westminster Tutors is one of the oldest and best independent sixth form colleges in London. Established in 1934, our culture of scholastic excellence is deeply embedded and sets the standard for other colleges to follow.