GCSE and A-Level Exams

Exam prep provision
The German Academy offers complete preparation as well as additional tuition for the GCSE and A-level exams in German for bilingual as well as non-bilingual children, young people and adults. Here you can find further information about the content of these lessons. Our lessons take place in a variety of settings:​

At one of our face-to-face Saturday Schools spread across the UK

At the ONLINE Saturday School

In other online courses spread throughout the week

In private lessons either online or face-to-face

Age range
GCSE exams are normally sat at the age of 16 and preparation begins at 14. Bilingual
students can sit their German exam at age 13-15 so can already start preparing at 12 years old. A-level exams are normally sat at the age of 18 and preparation begins at 16. Bilinguals can sit the A-level exam at the age of 17 and can start preparing for it straight after their GCSE exam. More details can be found in the group descriptions.

Benefits
There are many advantages for bilinguals of having German as an additional A level on top of their other three subjects. It will be recognised both as a subject as well as proof of their proficiency in the German language by UK universities, i.e. count towards their UCAS points. Furthermore, it will also be recognised by universities in German-speaking countries. The German A-level is in most cases a prerequisite for studies in German-speaking countries. More detailed information on recognition of A-levels in Germany can be found here: Anerkennung des General Certificate of Education (GCE) in Deutschland - DAAD.

​Exam centres
The exam centres where the candidates sit their exams are often their normal schools or
colleges which usually register them even if they are younger. Should this not be case, there are exam centres spread around the country where you can also register to sit exams. We will be happy to offer help to locate a nearby centre. However, these exam centres would require you to pay a fee for their service.

Examiners for speaking exams
Sometimes schools and colleges are happy to register candidates but do not have a German teacher to carry out the speaking exam. In this case we also have a network of qualified German-speaking examiners who will be happy to visit these schools and colleges. This would also incur a fee.

Exam board
We normally work with AQA as an exam board but have also had experience with other
exam boards.

Registration
The exams take place between April and June every year. However, the registration process for them already starts in September when teachers at the German Academy will carry out mock exams and identify students who are ready to take their exam the following year. The schools and colleges will then have to be made aware as often the students are not in an exam year group and therefore not on the radar to be entered into any exams.

Results
The students will be able to pick up their results at their school or college on the two results days in August – normally the second (for A-level) and the third (for GCSE) Thursday in August.

Contact
If you have any questions or concerns or need any support, please contact us at
examsoffice@germanacademy.org.uk.