French A-Level (AQA)
Bienvenue !
On this page, you’ll find:
- a brief description of the course
- the 12 themes
- the 3 exam papers
- the books/films
From here, you can navigate to the section you need – whether that’s detailed information about a specific paper, advice on how to revise, or a deeper breakdown of the themes.
The course
The French A-Level is a two year course in which you’ll develop your French language skills and knowledge of the Francophone world. You’ll explore 12 themes and study either 1 book and 1 film or 2 books. The qualification is linear, which means that you will sit all 3 exams/papers at the end of the course.
The 12 themes
Year 1
- The changing nature of family (La famille en voie de changement)
- The ‘cyber-society’ (La « cyber-société »)
- The place of voluntary work (Le rôle du bénévolat)
- A culture proud of its heritage (Une culture fière de son patrimoine)
- Contemporary francophone music (La musique francophone contemporaine)
- Cinema: the 7th art form (Cinéma : le septième art)
Year 2
- Positive features of a diverse society (Les aspects positifs d’une société diverse)
- Life for the marginalised (Quelle vie pour les marginalisés ? )
- How criminals are treated (Comment on traite les criminels)
- Teenagers, the right to vote and political commitment (Les ados, le droit de vote et l’engagement politique)
- Demonstrations, strikes – who holds the power? (manifestations, grèves – à qui le pouvoir ? )
- Politics and immigration (La politique et l’immigration)
The 3 papers
The texts and films
Texts
- Le Tartuffe, Molière
- Candide, Voltaire
- Boule de Suif et autres contes de la guerre, Guy de Maupassant
- L’étranger, Albert Camus
- Bonjour tristesse, Françoise Sagan
- Elise ou la vraie vie, Claire Etcherelli
- Un sac de billes, Joseph Joffo
- Kiffe kiffe demain, Faïza Guène
- Un secret, Philippe Grimbert
- No et moi, Delphine de Vigan
Films
- Les 400 coups, François Truffaut (1959)
- Au revoir les enfants, Louis Malle (1987)
- La Haine, Mathieu Kassovitz (1995)
- L’auberge espagnole, Cédric Klapisch (2002)
- Un long dimanche de fiançailles, Jean-Pierre Jeunet (2004)
- Entre les murs, Laurent Cantet (2008)