Languages · KS3 & KS4
French
This curriculum enables learners to manipulate language so that they can build their own meaning, sentences and structures independently. It develops effective communicators who can confidently use their knowledge and skills to become global citizens and lifelong linguists, with a clear understanding of language and culture.
2026/27 at a glance
Each year is split into Autumn, Spring and Summer. Scroll sideways on small screens, or use the year-by-year detail below.
| Year | Autumn | Spring | Summer |
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| Year 7KS3 |
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| Year 8KS3 |
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| Year 9KS3 |
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| Year 10KS4 |
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| Year 11KS4 |
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Year by year
Year 7 Key Stage 3
Autumn
- Greetings: singular 'être' and regular adjectives Using singular 'être' to meet and greet friends and ask and answer questions.
- People: singular 'avoir' and 'être' and definite articles Using 'être', 'avoir', adjectives and articles to describe a friend.
- Poem: Sept Couleurs Magiques Expanding vocabulary through an extended text by a French poet.
Spring
- Activities: plural verbs in the present tense Plural forms of -er verbs to talk about activities.
- Everyday situations: plural 'faire' Plural forms of 'faire'.
- Places to go: singular 'aller' The high-frequency verb 'aller' in all forms.
Summer
- School life: inversion questions and singular common -RE and -IR verbs Common irregular -re and -ir verbs and inversion questions.
- Paris and Nice: adjective placement Common adjectives that go before the noun.
- Summer activities: modal verbs in two-verb structures 'Devoir', 'vouloir' and 'pouvoir' with infinitives.
Year 8 Key Stage 3
Autumn
- Say and write new words in French: gender, nouns, alphabet Revisiting grammar, vocabulary and the sounds of French.
- Celebrations and festivals: numbers, dates, 'on' in the present tense -er verbs and question forms with 'est-ce que', intonation and inversion.
- Everyday life: -ER verbs in the present and past Embedding -er verbs in the present tense and question forms.
Spring
- Past experiences: -ER verbs in the present and past The perfect tense with 'avoir' for -er verbs, 'faire' and 'dire'.
- School life: -IR verbs in the present, uses of 'vous' and 'on' -ir verbs like 'sortir', 'venir' and 'choisir' in all forms.
- New places: modal verbs, aller + infinitive, negation Modal verbs 'devoir', 'vouloir', 'pouvoir' and 'savoir'.
Summer
- Friends and family: comparison with adjectives and adverbs Adjective agreement and comparatives with 'plus... que', 'moins... que' and 'aussi... que'.
- Language learning: plural -RE verbs in the present -re verbs like 'entendre', 'lire' and 'écrire'.
- Past events: the perfect tense, questions Asking questions in the perfect tense.
Year 9 Key Stage 3
Autumn
- Music and other cultural events: être, adjectives, -ER verbs, questions Reactivating 'être' and -er verbs in the present tense.
- Canada: verbs in the present, negation -re verbs and an introduction to 'connaître'.
- People and places: present and perfect tense Present and perfect tenses, two-verb structures and inversion questions.
Spring
- Routines: numbers 32–69, time Numbers 32–69 and telling the time with 'il est'.
- Past and present events: perfect tense, negation, questions Verbs taking 'être' in the perfect tense and 'ne... jamais'.
- Everyday life: subject and object pronouns, present tense Subject and object pronouns in the present and perfect tenses.
Summer
- Future and past events: two-verb structures with prepositions Two-verb structures to talk about future decisions.
- Historical events: perfect tense Consolidating the perfect tense.
- Ongoing past events: imperfect tense 'Être', 'avoir', 'aller' and 'faire' in the imperfect tense.
Year 10 Key Stage 4
Autumn
- Popular culture: mes intérêts Present tense verbs and 'aimer' + infinitive to describe free time.
- People and lifestyle: visites et rendez-vous Direct and indirect object pronouns, in the context of visits and gatherings.
- Popular culture: des personnalités francophones The perfect tense, including verbs with 'être' and past participle agreement.
Spring
- Communication and the world around us: mon nouveau pays Object pronouns in the past tense and infinitives used as nouns.
- People and lifestyle: au collège Comparative and superlative adjectives and adverbs.
- People and lifestyle: au boulot Irregular verbs, questions, and indefinite, interrogative and demonstrative adjectives.
Summer
- People and lifestyle: mes amis Verbs like 'connaître' and impersonal verbs.
- Communication and the world around us: là où j'habite The imperfect tense of 'avoir', 'être' and 'faire'.
- Popular culture: les médias Vocabulary for TV, cinema, technology and social networks.
Year 11 Key Stage 4
Autumn
- Popular culture: des pays francophones Prepositions 'à', 'de' and 'en' and partitive articles, through French-speaking countries.
- Popular culture: la culture francophone Present tense patterns, adjectives, adverbs, possessives and pronouns.
- Communication and the world around us: à l'avenir Talking about the future in a range of contexts.
Spring
- Communication and the world around us: un film francophone The present tense, past participles and the passive voice, through a French-language film.
- People and lifestyle: faire de bons choix Irregular and impersonal verbs and indefinite, interrogative and demonstrative adjectives.
- Révisions: la vie en francophonie The start of formal revision.
Summer
- Révisions: en ligne Revision of questions in different tenses, impersonal and modal verbs.
- Révisions: personnes et lieux Revision of negation, imperatives, present participles and adjective agreement.
- On se prépare aux examens Practising the skills for each part of the GCSE exam.