GCSE Japanese Speaking Examiner

Finding a speaking examiner is important for candidates who have studied Japanese outside of school. Since speaking tests are usually held at the student's school, it is ideal if a local Japanese teacher can assist. This page provides support for potential speaking examiners, based on official sources, my own experiences, and networking and training events. Please note that I am a private tutor, not a school teacher.

Speaking Test Overview

What's GCSE Speaking Test?

It is a part of GCSE (The General Certificate of Secondary Education) Japanese exams. The speaking exam is conducted at a school or an exam centre during the assessment period set by the exam board called Pearson Edexcel. If the language is taught at school, the school teacher would conduct the exam.

When is the Speaking Test?

There is a speaking test period. It's from mid-April to mid-May.

Who can be a Speaking Examiner?

A Japanese speaker who understands GCSE Japanese exam specifications and can come to the school. A school teacher who speaks Japanese or a local Japanese tutor would be suitable. It is up to the school to decide on the suitability.

Guidance on Arranging Speaking Assessment: Pearson Edexcel

A DBS (criminal record) check may be required to visit the school as a speaking examiner.

Types of DBS checks

Basic Certificate: You can apply for yourself, and this is the one I have. The Basic DBS would be accepted for one-off work, such as a speaking test, but on the condition that you are working with a supervisor. Please ask the school if the Basic DBS is good for the role. If they say 'no', they require the Enhanced DBS check.

Enhanced Certificate: This is for teachers and school staff who interact with children. You cannot apply for it as an individual; the application must be made through a school. Once obtained, it can be renewed by the holder. As a result, some tutors hold the Enhanced Certificate even if they are not currently employed by a school.

If a school advised me to apply for an Enhanced DBS check through them, I would be very happy to do so. However, in my case, it is more common for schools to accept my Basic Certificate and provide a supervisor.

The following DBS checks are usually not required or suitable for a speaking examiner.

Enhanced DBS check with barred lists: Same as the Enhanced Certificate, but also includes checks to see if the person is barred from working with children.

Standard Certificate: This is for someone who does not interact with children directly, such as a security staff member.

Conflict of Interest

Some schools ask about a ‘conflict of interest,’ meaning any personal connection that might affect fairness. They must inform the exam board if, for example, the examiner is a family member. Usually, such situations are avoided. When my child took GCSE Japanese, his school, where I regularly visited for their speaking test, arranged for another tutor instead.

A private tutor should be able to conduct the speaking test for the candidate you have tutored if the relationship is purely student-tutor. In this case, the school would provide an invigilator in the examination room.

The above is how I understand ‘conflict of interest,’ and I have never had a problem with it. However, each school can decide the suitability of examiners in line with the exam board’s guidelines.

Knowledge and Experience

The speaking test will be delivered primarily in Japanese, and its procedure is specified in detail. The examiner should read through GCSE-MFL-Administrative-Support-Guide.

Online Speaking Test

As far as I know, the exam board, Pearson Edexcel, does not allow this for GCSE MFL exams.

Contact Pearson Edexcel

Components of the Speaking Test

The candidate will complete three tasks.

Task 1: Role-play task
Task 2: Picture-based task
Task 3: Conversation task part 1 and 2

Five Themes for GCSE Japanese

The topics for each task are set based on the five themes. The theme used for a task will not be used for the other tasks. For example, if Role-play is about a holiday, Theme 2 will not be used for Picture-based or Conversation tasks.

Theme 1: Identity and culture
Theme 2: Local area and holiday
Theme 3: School
Theme 4: Study, work and future
Theme 5: International and global dimensions

How long is the entire exam?

Approximately 30 minutes per candidate for the exam including the preparation time. And the paperwork takes an additional 15-20 minutes.

Speaking Test Procedures

Task1 and Task 2
Role-play and Picture-based Tasks

When the candidate and the examiner enter the room, the sheets for Role-play and Picture-based Tasks will be provided to both, and then 12 minutes will be given to prepare for these tasks. The candidate is allowed to take notes.

The task sheets will be set up on that day, following the instructions for the examiner issued by Pearson Edexcel. The candidate or the examiner will not know the themes for each task until the test day.

Changes are NOT permitted

With Role-play and Picture-based Tasks, the examiner must read out their scripts exactly as they are. No changes or improvisations are permitted. Questions can be repeated twice at maximum, which means three times in total. If the candidate still cannot answer the question, they should just move on.

Candidate's notes

They are allowed to see the notes that they have written down during the preparation time. The notes should be just for reference; the candidate should not read out whole prepared sentences.

After the Role-play and Picture-based Tasks are finished, the examiner collects the candidate’s task sheets and notes.

Task 3
Conversation Task

The Conversation task is divided into two parts, dealing with two different GCSE themes. Candidates are not allowed to see any notes during this task.

Conversation Part 1

The first part begins with a theme or topic chosen by the candidate. The candidates may speak for up to one minute to give a confident start. The examiner will ask, e.g. "Would you like to talk about your topic?". After the candidate's opening talk, the examiner asks follow-up questions within the same theme. The school should inform the examiner of the candidate's theme or topic in advance.

If the candidate does not look prepared for this one-minute talk, that is also fine, as this part is optional. The examiner can start asking questions based on the candidate's chosen topic. To avoid confusion during the exam, the examiner should check with the candidate how they would like to start this part, with or without their opening talk.

Conversation Part 2

After approximately 2.5 minutes, the second part of the conversation begins, covering a different theme. The theme for this section is specified in the examiner's instructions provided on the test day. It can be found in the GCSE Themes Sequencing Grid.

Typical Problems

Schools use different exam boards for each language. Although the overall procedures are similar, Pearson Edexcel (Japanese GCSE exam board)’s speaking test differs in detail from other boards, such as AQA.

For AQA's conversation task, the candidate does not give a brief speech at the beginning of the conversation task, and unlike Pearson Edexcel, the candidate is encouraged to ask a question to the examiner. Unfortunately, in past cases, some examiners were unaware of these differences between the exam boards and did not allow candidates to speak on their chosen theme, which confused candidates who were already nervous. For the Japanese Speaking Test, questions from candidates are optional; when included, they are marked in the same way as other responses.

Duration of each task

Foundation Tier

Role play : 1-1.5mins

Picture-based task : 2.5-3 mins

Conversation : 3.5-4.5 mins

Higher Tier

Role play : 2-2.5 mins

Picture-based task : 3-3.5 mins

Conversation : 5-6 mins

The examiner is responsible for timekeeping. I use my mobile phone.

Materials used on the test day

The following items should be provided by the school.

Task sheets for the candidate
Question sheets to the teacher/examiner
Instructions for the examiner (A booklet)
Speaking assessment record form (CS2)
Candidate notes form (CN2)
A recorder

Recordings

The examiner is responsible for recording the entire speaking test. At the start, the examiner records the following information.

GCSE Japanese Summer [ex. 2023]
Foundation or Higher Tier
Teacher-examiner [your name]
Candidate [name]
Candidate number [ex. 1234]

Then the speaking exam begins with a phrase such as below.

Task 1, Role-play. You are in a shop in Japan... (Read out the instructions on the teacher's sheet in English) "Irasshaimase, nani o kaimasuka?" (Ask the first question in Japanese)

Schools provide a recorder, but occasionally, I was asked to use my own recorder as the school had many exams going on at the same time. In that case, I use my mobile phone (Voice Memos on iPhone) and send the audio file to the school's exam officer right after the test.

Communications with School

Here are my examples.

How it starts

I receive a request from a school or a candidate's parent to conduct their speaking test, then discuss rough schedules and fees with the school. While some schools contact me in the autumn term, most approach in the spring term.

Date booking (January - March)

The school will contact me in the spring term to arrange the date and time of the speaking test, which will take place in April or May. They will let me know the candidate's name and either the Foundation or the Higher Tier.

If I have not heard from them by the February Half Term, I ask the candidate’s parent to remind the school. I may also contact the school directly if they have not replied to the parent, as I need to adjust my other work schedules. Although rare, I once experienced a situation where a school booked me after the speaking exam period had already started.

Reminder before the test day

About a week before the speaking test, I exchange emails with the school. At this stage, both the school and the speaking examiner should know the theme/topic that the candidate has chosen for their conversation task. If you are the tutor, make sure that your student informs the school about their topic two weeks before the test.

Fees

Fees are discussed when the school contacts me. Payment is made either by the school or by the parent/guardian. Including travelling time to a local school, I usually charge 2.5-3 hours of my teaching rate. I also check with the school's exam officer about the invoice on the test day, just in case.

Supporting Materials

Useful documents

The following documents have been downloaded from the Pearson Edexcel website in 2022 and 2023 to improve my understanding and confidence. Please visit their website and check the latest ones before the exam.