Reaction to 2026 Leaving Certificate French (Higher Level) by Corinne Gavenda, French teacher at The 91制片厂.
- A brilliantly topical paper that reflects听the lives of young people.听
- Familiar topics with nuanced questions will allow everyone to听demonstrate听their command of the language.听
Opening the paper students will be extremely happy听with听two very approachable comprehensions. The first was on young people travelling by plane and the environment, with all the vocabulary and questions being accessible. Even the grammar question was particularly nice and so students who had practiced the past papers听would have had no difficulty with it. The second text is normally tougher, but students will be pleasantly surprised by this excerpt on renting a room in an apartment.听The topic is relevant and the vocabulary familiar, so students will be able to move through听the text confidently.听Even terms like 鈥渆mp锚che鈥� (prevent) which might throw some will be familiar from past papers.听听
The productive writing听compulsory question听has three听options,听but most will avoid the narrative听choice听and go for either of the others. The first was a lovely open-ended prompt on 鈥渨hat type of holiday do you prefer?鈥�.听This let students draw upon some ideas they would have prepared for their orals and so everyone will have something to say here. Students looking to distinguish themselves will have needed to elevate their material to a discursive rather than anecdotal approach. You听couldn鈥檛听just write about what you did previously and get full marks. The second question on 鈥渉ow do we deal with the accommodation crisis?鈥� is another discursive take on a topical issue. The organised student will have been able to lay out a clear structure to their argument here and so leave the exam feeling assured they听didn鈥檛听drift off course.听
The听final section听gives听five听options from which students need only select one. Those relying on the diary will听find听a听tough听question on their first driving lesson. This was a听really specific听topic and had little overlap with material that many will have prepared elsewhere, so some will struggle听to fill up the page.听Similarly听the email听option听was also very听language specific. This task was centred on the theme of treatment of people with disabilities听with access to听public transport.听The theme听itself is听topical听but in an exam setting some students might find the amount of detail demanded听daunting. On the contrary, the final three topics were brilliantly current听and familiar to everyone. Q4. on the scandal of fast fashion will have been discussed in classrooms across the country. Q5. was on A.I., something that is constantly in the headlines and many will have听anticipated.听However听the question had a nuance that will help boost the stronger student. It听wasn鈥檛听just a personal take on the pros and cons of A.I., it was assessing the validity of fears surrounding听A.I..听The final question on the value of learning a foreign language was a perfect topic for them. It hasn鈥檛 appeared on the paper since 2019听so some might have hoped to see it return but regardless of predictions, the question reflects an important value of the French exam: each paper reflects the world in which it is written, not the exams that have preceded it. Students who were socially and culturally alert while studying their vocabulary will have found a paper that resonated with them in听a very rewarding听way.听
After a short break, the aural began. It started with a very accessible听Section听A on hiking, meeting friends, feeding cats. But then it was followed by two challenging sections. In Section B the word 鈥減atron鈥� meaning 鈥渂oss鈥� and not 鈥渃ustomer鈥� in this context will throw students off. In Section C we have two people speaking but only one with the correct information so students will have needed to be patient and listening carefully to the whole exchange. Section D was on the French Men鈥檚 Football team and was very accessible in its听vocabulary. But the听exam finishes with the typically more challenging听Section听E. The answers hinged on a single word of vocabulary for each part. For听instance,听they needed to hear 鈥渓es听oiseaux鈥� for 鈥渂irds鈥� and 鈥減ieces d鈥檕r鈥� for 鈥済old coins鈥� after only two plays of the audio.听