We revise qualifications regularly to make sure they continue to meet the needs of learners, schools and higher education institutions around the world. This syllabus has been reviewed and revised for examination in June and November 2020 and 2021.
How has the syllabus changed?
- To help teachers and learners, we have simplified the wording and added more guidance.
- We have added a list of command words and their meanings to help learners know what is expected of them in the exam.
How has the assessment changed?
- We have removed tiering from this syllabus so that there is only one Reading paper. This applies to all candidates who will have access to grades A*–G.
- We will no longer assess Speaking and Listening through coursework but by a test. It will remain optional, will be separately endorsed and will not contribute to a candidate’s overall grade.
- All candidates will take Paper 1 (Reading) and Component 3 (Coursework Portfolio). Component 4 (Speaking and Listening Test) will be optional.
- Paper 1 (Reading) will be familiar to teachers and candidates. It is a 2-hour paper and candidates answer three compulsory questions. The three questions are:
- Comprehension and summary task
- Short-answer questions and language task
- Extended response to reading.
- Candidates continue to submit a portfolio of three assignments. The three assignments will change, although the skills required will be the same:
- writing to discuss/argue, and/or persuade in response to a text or texts
- writing to describe
- writing to narrate.
- For Speaking and Listening, there will be two parts to the test: Individual Talk and Conversation.
When do these changes take place?
These changes are for examination in June and November 2020 and 2021. For full details, please refer to the 2020-2021 syllabus above, including the ‘Changes to this syllabus’ section, as well as the new specimen paper.