The Perse School Cambridge

• Curriculum
  • Subject choices
  • Requirements for university
• Subjects
  • Art
    • Gallery
  • Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Classical Civilisation
  • Design and Technology
  • Economics
  • English Literature
  • French
  • General Studies
  • Geography
  • German
  • Greek
  • History
  • Italian
  • Latin
  • Mathematics
  • Music
  • Philosophy
  • Physical Education
  • Physics
  • Politics
  • Psychology
  • Religious Studies
  • Spanish
• Pastoral care
• School life
• Extra-curricular
• Academic success
  • Exam results
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• Why Italian?
• AS level
• A2 level
• Exam results
• Reading

We follow the  Edexcel syllabus which provides a logical progression from GCSE and offers a clear learning focus and an appealing and stimulating content.

The four AS topics are:

• Youth culture and concerns – music and fashion – technology (MP3/blogs/mobile phones/internet/games) – relationships  (family, friendship and peer pressure) – drink, drugs and sex
• Lifestyle: health and fitness – sports and exercise – food and diet – health issues (smoking/skin cancer/ health services)
• The world around us: travel, tourism and environmental issues  – tourist information, travel and transport – weather (eg natural disasters, climate change) –Pollution and recycling
• Education and Employment – education (schooling and higher education) – Education policy and student issues – the world of work (eg the changing work scene, job opportunities and unemployment)

Assessment

Unit 1 – Speaking test: 8 -10 mins (plus 15 mins preparation time)

30% of the total AS mark, 15% of the total A level mark

50 marks

The oral exam is split in two sections.

Section A: Students will be given a stimulus connected with their chosen topic area. They will study it for 15 minutes and then will be asked four Edexcel-set questions on that stimulus, expressing their opinion on it.

Section B: The teacher then engages the student in a discussion that, though still relating to the same general topic area, moves away from the main focus of the stimulus.

Unit 2 –Listening, Reading and Writing      2 hours and 30 minutes

70% of the total AS mark, 35% of the total A level mark

70 marks

The exam is in three sections. Section A is a listening comprehension test. Students will have individual control of the recording and will answer questions, some in Italian, some in English. Section B is a reading comprehension exercise and Section C is an essay.

Oral language lessons

Students have a weekly lesson with their teacher to develop their oral skills.