A Level Turkish: Explore a Global Language
A Level Turkish at Rochester Independent College offers students the opportunity to develop advanced linguistic skills while exploring the rich cultural, historical, and literary traditions of Turkey. Whether you are a native speaker seeking a formal qualification or a language learner aiming to expand your global perspective, this course provides an academically rigorous and highly rewarding pathway.
Why Study Turkish?
Turkish is spoken by more than 80 million people and serves as a linguistic gateway to a country that bridges Europe and Asia. Studying Turkish strengthens communication skills, cultural awareness, and analytical thinking—qualities valued by universities and employers alike. Students interested in international relations, business, history, linguistics, and Middle Eastern studies will find Turkish a strong asset.
Who Is the Course For?
Native and heritage speakers wishing to gain a formally recognised qualification.
Multilingual students adding a unique and strategic language to their skill set.
Learners interested in Turkish culture, literature, and society.
Students aiming to boost UCAS applications, particularly for competitive courses such as law, humanities, or international studies.
The Pearson Edexcel Level 3 Advanced GCE in Turkish (listening, reading and writing) consists of three externally-examined papers that assess listening, reading and writing skills.
These assessments will be set and marked by Pearson. Students must complete all assessments in May/June in any single year.
Paper 1: Translation into English, reading comprehension and writing
Written examination: 2 hours 30 minutes. 40% of the qualification, 80 marks.
Content overview
Section A draws on vocabulary and structures from any one of the sub-themes within the four themes listed in the specification.
Section B draws on vocabulary and structures across all sub-themes from within the four themes listed in the specification.
Section C is based on independent research selected and carried out by the student. The research must be based on one of the research subjects listed in the specification. All aspects of the chosen research subject must be studied. Students use information from their research findings and from an unseen written text to answer the question.
Assessment overview
During the examination, students are not permitted access to a dictionary or any documentation related to their research.
The examination is made up of:
• Section A: Translation into English (20 marks) An unseen passage to be translated from Turkish to English.
• Section B: Reading (20 marks) A reading assessment based on a variety of text types and genres. Students must respond to a series of comprehension questions.
• Section C: Writing (research question) (40 marks)
A reading and writing question based on an aspect of the student’s chosen research subject. Students read a text and then answer a question, incorporating information and ideas from both the text and their research findings.
Paper 2: Translation into Turkish and written response to works
Written examination: 2 hours and 40 minutes. 30% of the qualification, 110 marks
Content overview
Section A draws on vocabulary and structures from any one of the sub-themes within the four themes listed in the specification.
Sections B and C draw on the study of two discrete Turkish works: either two literary texts or one literary text and one film. The works must be taken from the list provided: Prescribed literary texts and films. The literary texts listed include novels and short stories. All the films are feature length.
• Literary texts: Üç Anadolu Efsanesi, Yaşar Kemal, 1967 (short stories)
• Film: Dedemin İnsanları, dir. Çağan Irmak (2011)
Assessment overview
• Section A: Translation into Turkish (20 marks)
Students translate an unseen passage from English into Turkish.
• Section B: Written response to works (literary texts) (45 marks)
Students must write an extended response on either one or two of the literary texts listed in Appendix 1: Prescribed literary texts and films.
Students select one question from a choice of two for each of their chosen literary text(s).
If a student answers questions on two literary texts, then they do not complete Section C.
• Section C: Written response to works (films) (45 marks)
Students who answer only one question from a literary text in Section B must write an extended response on one of the films listed in Appendix 1: Prescribed literary texts and films.
Students select one question from a choice of two for their chosen film.
Paper 3: Listening, reading and writing in Turkish
Written examination: 2 hours and 15 minutes. 30% of the qualification, 60 marks
Content overview
• Section A draws on vocabulary and structures across all sub-themes within the four themes listed in the specification.
• Section B draws on vocabulary and structures from any one of the sub-themes within the four themes listed in the syllabus. There is one unseen listening source and one unseen written source to which students must respond.
Assessment overview
This paper includes a listening comprehension and a question that assesses listening, reading and writing skills together.
During the examination, students are not permitted access to a dictionary.
• Section A: Listening comprehension (30 marks)
A listening assessment based on a recording that features male and female Turkish speakers. Students will respond to comprehension questions based on a variety of contexts and sources.
The listening audio files for the sample assessment materials are available on our website.
• Section B: Listening, Reading and Writing question (30 marks)
Students summarise a listening source and a text that are based on the same sub-theme.
Students then evaluate the points of view in both sources, stating which views they agree with and why.
The Pearson Edexcel GCSE in Turkish consists of four externally examined papers based on the following skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing.
Students must complete their speaking assessment in April/May and all other assessments in May/June in any single year.
Each paper is available at Foundation tier or Higher tier. Students must be entered for a single tier across all papers.
The use of dictionaries is not permitted. For Paper 2 this includes during the preparation time.
Paper 1: Listening and understanding in Turkish
Written examination
Higher tier: 45 minutes, including 5 minutes’ reading time; 50 marks
25% of the total qualification
Content overview
This paper draws on vocabulary and structures across all the themes and topics.
Assessment overview
Students are assessed on their understanding of standard spoken Turkish by one or more speakers in a range of public and social settings. Students will respond to multipleresponse and short-answer open-response questions based on a recording featuring male
and female Turkish speakers.
Students must answer all questions in both sections.
There is no requirement for students to produce written responses in Turkish.
Paper 2: Speaking in Turkish
Internally conducted and externally assessed
Foundation tier: 7–9 minutes plus 12 minutes’ preparation time; 70 marks
Higher tier: 10–12 minutes plus 12 minutes’ preparation time; 70 marks
25% of the total qualification
Content overview
This paper draws on vocabulary and structures across all the themes and topics.
Assessment overview
Students are assessed on their ability to communicate and interact effectively through speaking in Turkish for different purposes and in different settings.
There are three tasks which must be conducted in the following order:
Task 1 – a role play based on one topic that is allocated by Pearson.
Task 2 – questions based on a picture stimulus based on one topic that is allocated by Pearson.
Task 3 – conversation based on two themes. The first theme is based on the topic chosen by the student in advance of the assessment. The second theme is allocated by Pearson.
The assessments are conducted by teachers in one session within a prescribed assessment window, the recordings are then submitted to Pearson for external marking.
Paper 3: Reading and understanding in Turkish
Written examination
Higher tier: 1 hour 5 minutes; 50 marks
25% of the total qualification
Content overview
This paper draws on vocabulary and structures across all the themes and topics.
Assessment overview
Students are assessed on their understanding of written Turkish across a range of different types of texts, including advertisements, emails, letters, articles and literary texts.
Students are required to respond to multiple-response and short-answer questions based on these texts.
Students must answer all questions in each of the three sections:
Section A is set in English. The instructions to students are in English
Section B is set in Turkish. The instructions to students are in Turkish
Section C includes a translation passage from Turkish into English with instructions in English.
Paper 4: Writing in Turkish
Written examination
Higher tier: 1 hour 25 minutes; 60 marks
25% of the total qualification
Content overview
This paper draws on vocabulary and structures across all the themes and topics.
Assessment overview
Students are assessed on their ability to communicate effectively through writing in Turkish for different purposes and audiences. Students are required to produce responses of varying lengths and types to express ideas and opinions in Turkish. The instructions to students are in Turkish. Word counts are specified for each question. Students must answer all questions. Higher tier – two open-response questions and one translation into Turkish.
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