AQA GCSE English Language Spoken Language Endorsement: Revision Notes

Spoken language in AQA GCSE English Language (8700) is a compulsory non-exam assessment reported as a separate endorsement: you give a prepared, formal presentation on a topic agreed with your teacher (as a guide, no more than ten minutes), then respond to questions and feedback. It carries 0% of the GCSE mark and is graded Pass, Merit, Distinction or Not Classified against AO7, AO8 and AO9. For the full skills guide, use the Spoken language study guide.

What the specification content says (3.1.3)

Subject content (8700, 3.1.3)	What it means for you
Presenting information and ideas	Selecting and organising information and ideas effectively and persuasively for prepared spoken presentations; planning for different purposes and audiences; making presentations and speeches
Responding to spoken language	Listening to and responding appropriately to any questions and feedback
Spoken Standard English	Expressing ideas using Standard English whenever and wherever appropriate

The three spoken-language assessment objectives

AO	Wording
AO7	Demonstrate presentation skills in a formal setting
AO8	Listen and respond appropriately to spoken language, including to questions and feedback on presentations
AO9	Use spoken Standard English effectively in speeches and presentations

AO1–AO6 belong to the two written papers; AO7–AO9 belong only to the endorsement.

Key requirements of the presentation

• Prepared and formal, on a specific topic; the form can vary: talks, debates, speeches and dialogues.
• Topic agreed in advance with your teacher.
• Planned and organised: AQA warns that lack of preparation is likely to prevent access to the higher grades.
• Length: as a guide, no more than ten minutes.
• Notes and slides allowed (pre-prepared notes, PowerPoint), but not required.
• Questions and feedback: as part of, or after, the presentation you must listen and respond.
• Teacher-only audience: allowed, but the presentation must be designed for a potentially wider audience, for example replicating a television interview.

How grading works: the competency rule

No marks are given. The grade is holistic and on a competency basis: you must meet every criterion in a grade before you can move to the next. Students who do not reach Pass are recorded as Not Classified.

General criteria (all grades)

• Be audible.
• Use spoken Standard English: be intelligible and generally use language appropriate to the formal setting.

Grade criteria compared

	Pass	Merit	Distinction
Content	Straightforward ideas/information/feelings	Challenging ideas/information/feelings, with a range of vocabulary	Sophisticated ideas/information/feelings, with a sophisticated repertoire of vocabulary
Structure	Attempts to organise and structure	Organised and structured clearly and appropriately for the audience	Organised and structured using an effective range of strategies to engage the audience
Audience	Attempts to meet the needs of the audience	(within structure, above)	(within structure, above)
Purpose	—	Achieves the purpose	Achieves the purpose
Questions	Appropriate response in a straightforward manner	Responds formally and in some detail	Responds perceptively and, if appropriate, elaborates with further ideas and information

Moderation and recording

• Your school records a sample of presentations on audio-visual media, complete and unedited, including the questions and feedback.
• 30 or fewer students: all recorded; over 30: 30 recorded, with at least 10 at each grade (D, M, P) where available. Not Classified students are not included.
• Malpractice rules apply: work must be your own, and sources must be acknowledged.
• A student who does not attempt the presentation receives Not Classified.

Planning checklist

Stage	Action
Topic	Choose one that lets you express challenging or sophisticated ideas, not just facts
Purpose	Decide: inform, persuade, argue, explain? Write it down
Audience	Who are they, what do they know, what will engage them?
Structure	Opening hook → clear sections with signposting → memorable close
Strategies	Anecdote, rhetorical question, statistic, visual, audience participation
Language	Formal Standard English; subject vocabulary explained where needed
Questions	Predict likely questions; prepare evidence and examples
Rehearsal	Time it to stay within about ten minutes

Worked example: Standard English in speech

Non-standard / informal	Spoken Standard English
“So basically we was thinking that, like, homework is pointless.”	“My argument today is that much homework does not improve learning.”
“There’s loads of kids what don’t have a quiet place to work.”	“Many students do not have a quiet place to work at home.”
“Yeah, nah, I don’t get your question.”	“Could you clarify what you mean by ‘fair’?”

Standard English is not the same as using long words: it means grammatically standard forms (for example “we were”, not “we was”) and a register suited to a formal setting.

Common mistakes / traps

• Treating it as optional. It is compulsory for 8700, even though it does not count towards the grade.
• Choosing a list topic. “My hobbies” makes Merit and Distinction hard to reach.
• Ignoring purpose. Merit and Distinction both require the presentation to achieve its purpose.
• Reading slides aloud. Slides support, but strategies to engage the audience are what Distinction rewards.
• One-word answers. Responding “in some detail” (Merit) or “perceptively” with elaboration (Distinction) is part of the grade.
• Slipping into informal speech under pressure, especially in the question stage.

Frequently asked questions

Does the spoken language endorsement affect my GCSE English Language grade? No. It has 0% weighting; it is reported as a separate grade on your certificate alongside the overall GCSE grade.

How long should the presentation be? AQA’s guide is no more than ten minutes. The exact duration is at your teacher’s discretion.

Can I use PowerPoint or notes? Yes. Pre-prepared notes and slides are allowed but not required.

What happens if I meet most Distinction criteria but not all? You are awarded Merit. The competency rule means every criterion in a grade must be met.

Syllabus coverage

AQA GCSE English Language (8700) specification: 3.1.3 Spoken language (presenting information and ideas; responding to spoken language; spoken Standard English); the non-exam assessment requirements and criteria for the Spoken Language endorsement; assessment objectives AO7–AO9; section 5 non-exam assessment administration.

Self-test

1. What weighting does spoken language carry in the GCSE? (0%; reported separately.)
2. Name the three spoken-language AOs. (AO7 presenting; AO8 listening and responding; AO9 spoken Standard English.)
3. What is the competency rule? (All criteria in a grade must be met to achieve it.)
4. Who must agree the topic? (The student and the teacher, in advance.)
5. What must a teacher-only presentation be designed for? (A potentially wider audience.)

Related pages

• Spoken language study guide
• Spoken language practice questions
• Paper 2 Writers’ Viewpoints and Perspectives revision notes

Official specification

AQA GCSE English Language (8700) specification — aqa.org.uk.