Speaking Exam: Role-play, Reading Aloud and Photo Card

Paper 2 tests how well you can speak French. It is a non-exam assessment: your own teacher conducts the test and records it, and the recording is marked. Immediately before the test you get 15 minutes of supervised preparation to prepare your photo card description, and you may make notes and use them during that task.

The test has three tasks, each marked in its own way:

Task	Marks	What it involves
Role-play	10	Five short prompts in a simulated conversation
Reading aloud task + short conversation	15	Read a text aloud, then answer four questions
Photo card discussion	25	Describe two photos, then discuss the theme

The whole test lasts about 7–9 minutes at Foundation and 10–12 minutes at Higher. All prompts and instructions are given in English, so you always know what is being asked; you simply respond in French.

The role-play simulates a social conversation, such as chatting about your town or your free time. It is worth 10 marks as five tasks of two marks each, and it is assessed only for communication.

• To score the full 2 marks on a task you must convey the message without ambiguity. A response with some ambiguity, or that gives only part of the message, scores 1 mark.
• A response with no accurate verb can score a maximum of 1 mark, so include a working verb in each answer.
• One task always requires you to ask a question, shown by a question mark on your card. Practise turning prompts into questions three ways: intonation (Tu aimes le sport?), est-ce que (Est-ce que tu aimes le sport?), and inversion (Aimes-tu le sport?).

At Foundation, every task uses the present tense and needs one piece of information. At Higher, four tasks use the present tense and one task targets a different time frame (past or future), each task needs at least one verb, and across the role-play you give eight details in total.

Illustrative example — prompt: Say one thing you do in your town. A strong answer is Je fais du sport avec mes amis ("I play sport with my friends"). Prompt: Ask your friend about their town. A strong answer is Qu'est-ce qu'il y a dans ta ville? ("What is there in your town?").

You read a short written French text aloud. The text is at least 35 words at Foundation or 50 words at Higher, and it is printed as separate, widely spaced sentences to help you. This part earns 5 marks for the reading itself, so it is where your phonics work is cashed in directly.

French does not sound the way it looks, so watch the sound-symbol patterns you have practised:

Feature	Example	How to say it
Accents	élèves	é is a closed "ay"; è is an open "eh"
Nasal vowels	enfants	en and an are nasal, not "en"/"an"
Liaison	les élèves	the silent -s links as [z]: "lay-zé-lèv"
Silent endings	adorent	the -ent ending is silent: "a-dor"

Worked example. For the sentence Les élèves adorent les vacances ("Pupils love the holidays"), read Les + élèves with a [z] liaison, leave the -ent of adorent silent, and link les vacances with another [z]. Reading every letter as written is the most common way to lose these marks.

After the reading, your teacher asks four unprepared questions on the same topic as the text. These are worth 10 marks for how clearly you communicate and develop your answers. The questions are in the present tense, but you are free to give personalised answers and to bring in other tenses.

• Do not just answer in one word. Oui, j'aime le sport is thin. Develop it: Oui, j'adore le sport parce que c'est bon pour la santé et je joue au foot le week-end ("Yes, I love sport because it is good for your health and I play football at the weekend").
• Reuse language from the text. The questions do not test whether you understood the text, but you may borrow its vocabulary and structures.
• Add an opinion and a reason to almost every answer: à mon avis, je pense que, parce que, c'est + adjective. Opinions plus justification are the quickest route up the mark bands.

Foundation students spend about 2 to 2.5 minutes in total on the reading and this conversation; Higher students spend about 3 to 3.5 minutes.

The photo card carries two photos from one theme and is worth 25 marks: 15 for communicating the content and your responses, 5 for the range and quality of your language, and 5 for accuracy. You prepare your description in the 15-minute preparation time and may use your notes.

The compulsory first instruction is Parle-moi des photos ("Tell me about the photos"). Spend about one minute describing them at Foundation, or one and a half minutes at Higher. Build the description from reliable openers and add detail:

Structure	Example	Meaning
Je vois…	Je vois une famille dans un parc.	I see a family in a park.
Il y a…	Il y a deux enfants et un chien.	There are two children and a dog.
On peut voir…	On peut voir un homme qui sourit.	You can see a man who is smiling.
Je pense que…	Je pense qu'il fait beau.	I think the weather is nice.

Describe the people, what they are wearing, the place, the weather, and what is happening. A supposition such as Je pense que c'est une fête ("I think it's a celebration") is fully creditable, even if the theme is not certain.

After the description, your teacher continues an unprepared conversation on the theme of the card, which fills the rest of the photo card time (about 3–4 minutes at Foundation, 4.5–5.5 at Higher). This is where the higher marks are won, because you can develop personalised ideas.

• Move beyond the photo. The conversation is about the theme, not just the image, so bring in your own experience and opinions.
• Show a range of tenses. Talk about what you usually do (present), what you did (perfect: j'ai fait), and what you will do (near future je vais faire, plus je voudrais "I would like"; at Higher, the future je ferai and the wider conditional). Referring to more than one time frame lifts your language marks.
• Link your ideas. Use connectives such as et, mais, parce que, donc and cependant to build longer, more natural turns rather than short, disconnected sentences.

Accuracy still counts here, but do not go silent chasing a perfect sentence. A developed, mostly accurate answer beats a short, flawless one.

1. Skipping the question in the role-play

One role-play task always needs you to ask a question. Forgetting to make it a question, or leaving out the verb, throws away easy marks.

2. Reading every letter aloud

French has silent endings and liaisons. Pronouncing the -ent of adorent or ignoring the [z] link in les élèves costs you the reading-aloud marks that phonics practice is designed to win.

3. Giving one-word answers in the conversation

Short answers cap your marks. Add an opinion, a reason and a connective to almost everything you say.

4. Only describing the photo card image

The unprepared conversation is about the theme, not just the picture. Prepare theme vocabulary and opinions, not only a list of what is in the photo.

5. Staying in the present tense

Both the conversation tasks reward references to different time frames. Weave in a past detail (j'ai fait) and a future plan (je vais / je ferai) to show range.