It is usually a teacher at the school who conducts and assesses the Speaking tests. Where this is not possible and it is necessary to look for someone outside the school, they must be someone who is fluent in the target language, preferably with teaching experience and with experience of conducting other oral examinations. The person appointed must be given the opportunity to familiarise them self with the requirements of the examination before conducting any 'live' Speaking tests.

It is the responsibility of the person conducting the Speaking tests to mark them. The Speaking tests must be marked as they are being conducted. Examiners should mark the 'live' candidate and not a recording.

You don’t need to be accredited by Cambridge in order to conduct the IGCSE Foreign Language Speaking test. However, we strongly recommend that you study all documentation in advance of the examination, and the Guide to delivering Cambridge IGCSE speaking tests, available from School Support Hub. There is usually only one Speaking test examiner per centre per syllabus.

The examination dates for Speaking tests are available in the Exam Timetable for your administrative zone.

The materials for the conduct and assessment of the Speaking test are sent out two to three weeks before each examination series. We use your estimated entries to calculate how many sets of materials you will need. If you do not submit estimated entries, we will not be able to send your early question papers and pre-release materials until we have received your final entries. You may not have the necessary materials to carry out assessments at the specified time.

The Speaking examination should be recorded using good-quality recording equipment, for example, a digital voice recorder with a separate microphone. Each candidate’s file must be saved individually in MP3 format. All candidates must be recorded and all recordings must be retained until after the enquiries about results period.

The speaking tests selected for the sample to send to Cambridge for external moderation should then be transferred to either a USB stick, CD or DVD, which must be clearly identified with your Centre number, the syllabus code and the component code. These must be sent with the relevant paperwork.

When you have completed your Speaking tests you should despatch the necessary paperwork and recorded samples for external moderation to Cambridge for moderation as soon as possible and must arrive at Cambridge by the date specified in the Cambridge Handbook. Do not wait until the end of the examination period before sending us these items.

When your recorded sample and paperwork arrive at Cambridge they are forwarded to a moderator. The moderator listens to your sample and looks at the marks that you have awarded to ensure that they are consistent with the IGCSE standard. If your marks are consistent then they will not be changed. If they are not, then an adjustment will be made to align them with the standard, e.g. the marks will be raised if you have marked your candidates severely, or lowered if you have been too generous. A summary of moderation adjustments will be sent to your centre with the results.

Candidates should not be excessively worried if they are slightly over or under the word count.
However, if an answer is significantly longer or shorter than the word count, it will most likely be self-penalising. Answers that are too short are very likely to be penalised for lack of content, whilst answers that are too long will probably not be written with concision and precision, and so be penalised for style and possibly for repetition.

We suggest that candidates should practise answering these types of questions before the exam, and take note of how many lines/pages they should write in order to answer within the word limits (this will be different for each candidate, depending on their handwriting).

Yes. However, advise candidates to attempt 8 items in case the 5 they have listed are not all correct.

For more information and materials on this syllabus, please visit our School Support Hub here.