Cambridge IGCSE French Tutors Online

Cambridge IGCSE French is syllabus 0520. This page works from the syllabus for exams in 2025, 2026 and 2027. Exams are available in the June and November series, and also in the March series in India.

All candidates take all four papers, and all candidates are eligible for grades A* to G. There is no Core and Extended tier in this version of the syllabus, so every student sits all four papers and is graded across the whole range.

The structure is the simplest of any subject in this block and also the least forgiving. Each of the four papers covers one skill, and each is worth exactly 25% of the qualification. There is no paper that can carry a weak skill.

Paper 1 is Listening. It lasts approximately 50 minutes, including 6 minutes of transfer time, and carries 40 marks and 25% of the qualification. It consists of 37 multiple-choice and matching questions. Candidates hear each recorded text twice, and at the end of the test they transfer their answers onto a separate answer sheet. The recordings include dialogues, announcements and conversations.

Paper 2 is Reading. It lasts 1 hour and carries 45 marks and 25%. It consists of six groups of questions, each containing multiple-choice and matching questions as well as questions requiring short answers in French.

Paper 3 is Speaking. It lasts approximately 10 minutes, plus 10 minutes of preparation time, and carries 40 marks and 25%. It is internally assessed and externally moderated.

Paper 4 is Writing. It lasts 1 hour and carries 45 marks and 25%. It consists of a form-filling task, a directed writing task and an extended writing task, all in response to given contexts and prompts.

Two rules apply across the qualification and catch students out every year. All questions requiring written responses are to be answered in French, and dictionaries are not allowed in the examination.

The paper breakdowns are published in detail, which makes preparation very concrete. In Listening, questions 1 to 8 are eight four-option multiple-choice questions on short texts such as announcements, phone messages, news items or dialogues, worth 8 marks, testing L1. Questions 9 to 14 are six four-option multiple-choice questions on a monologue or dialogue containing factual information, worth 6 marks. Questions 15 to 19 ask candidates to match names of people, places, items or activities with the correct statements from an informal conversation, worth 5 marks, testing L2, L3 and L4.

Questions 20 to 28 use a dialogue, or two shorter dialogues on a common theme, with nine three-option multiple-choice questions worth 9 marks. Questions 29 to 34 use a dialogue, discussion or interview with six four-option questions worth 6 marks. Questions 35 to 37 give five options in each question and candidates must select the two options which are true, worth 6 marks in total. So the listening paper moves from short, factual items to longer interactions where candidates must hold several details at once.

In Reading, question group 1 matches short statements with the correct pictures for 5 marks. Group 2 matches short notices or signs commonly found in public places with an explanatory statement for 5 marks. Group 3 answers three-option multiple-choice questions on a short text such as an email, message, postcard or letter for 7 marks. Group 4 answers questions on a longer text requiring short responses in French for 12 marks. Group 5 matches descriptions of the requirements, interests or skills of different people with the correct description of places, events, services or activities for 5 marks. Group 6 answers questions on a longer text with short responses for the remaining marks.

In Writing, question 1 is a form-filling task using single words or short phrases for 5 marks. Question 2 is a directed writing task of about 80 to 90 words on a familiar, everyday topic for 12 marks. Question 3 offers a choice between two tasks, an email or letter and an article or blog, to be completed in about 130 to 140 words, for 28 marks. So more than half of the writing paper sits on a single extended piece, and the choice of format is the candidate's.

In Speaking, the test has a fixed shape. There is a warm-up section of approximately 30 seconds which is not assessed, then one role play in which candidates respond to five transactional questions to accomplish a task or obtain goods or services, lasting approximately two minutes, then two topic conversations in which candidates respond to questions to share views, opinions and experiences, at four minutes per conversation. Both the role play and the conversations are set in predictable, everyday contexts based on the syllabus topic areas.

The speaking rules are strict and worth knowing. During preparation, candidates study a role play scenario provided on a candidate card, are supervised under exam conditions, and are not allowed to make notes. The teacher examiner allocates a role play and two topic conversations to each candidate according to a randomisation grid, so a student cannot prepare one script and deliver it. The tests are conducted and marked by the teacher examiner and moderated by Cambridge International, and they take place before the main examination series.

The subject content is organised in five broad topic areas which provide the contexts for vocabulary and grammar: A Everyday activities, B Personal and social life, C The world around us, D The world of work, and E The international world.

Each area names its sub-topics. Area A covers time expressions such as telling the time, days, months and seasons, food and drink including meals, fruit and vegetables, meat, fish and seafood, snacks, drinks and cutlery, the human body and health including parts of the body and health and illness, and travel and transport. Area B covers self, family and friends, the home including rooms, furniture and household appliances, colours, clothes and accessories, and leisure time including hobbies and sport.

Area C covers people and places including continents, countries, nationalities and compass points, the natural world, the environment, the climate and the weather, communications and technology including the digital world and documents and texts, the built environment including buildings, services, urban areas and shopping, measurements including size and shape, and materials. Area D covers education including learning institutions, training, the classroom, learning tools, subjects and studying, and work including jobs, careers and the workplace. Area E covers countries, nationalities and languages, and culture, customs, faiths and celebrations.

The syllabus also publishes a list of grammar and structures covering what candidates are expected to demonstrate, including articles, nouns, adjectives and the rest of the core grammar. The syllabus notes that the list is not intended to be restrictive, so it sets a floor rather than a ceiling.

The assessment objectives are four, one per skill. AO1 is Listening, AO2 is Reading, AO3 is Speaking and AO4 is Writing. Each has its own numbered sub-objectives, from L1 to L4, R1 to R4, S1 to S5 and W1 to W4, describing what a candidate should be able to do in that skill.

The weightings are AO1 25 per cent, AO2 25 per cent, AO3 25 per cent and AO4 25 per cent of the qualification. Each paper tests its own objective and nothing else, so the weightings and the papers align perfectly.

The qualification is graded A*, A, B, C, D, E, F or G, with A* the highest and G the lowest. A candidate whose performance does not meet the standard required for grade G is ungraded, which is reported on the statement of results but not on the certificate.