Is HKDSE French difficult to pass?

The HKDSE has approved recently the option to take french as one of the elective subjects. However for what we have seen in our school, students are clueless about the difficulty of the exam and how long are they meant to learn in order to get a good grade in this exam.

To keep it simple, the HKDSE they do not design their own exam papers for French, they base their exams on one of the exam boards of the UK for the A-levels exam. What does this mean? A-levels exam is an exam in the UK that students take to enter university just like the HKDSE so they are equivalent. But how long students that take A-levels french learn before passing the exam?

In order to start an A-levels course in the UK you MUST have done an I/GCSE french exam or equivalent. The I/GCSE students take it when they are 15-16 years old. Basically it means you studied french in secondary school for 4 years (secondary 1 to secondary 4). After that, in secondary 5 and 6 you prepare to take the A-levels exam.

So students who take the HKDSE french they should have learned french for around 5 to 6 years (from secondary 1 to secondary 6) if they want to get a good grade in the exam, as they were meant to start learning french in secondary 1.

However if you really have interest in taking the HKDSE french but you are a total beginner, with the help of a good private tutor you can prepare in 3 to 4 years for the exam if you dedicate enough time into it.

So please keep in mind if you are a total beginner in French and you only have 1 or 2 years to prepare for your HKDSE DO NOT TAKE french or you will not pass the exam.

Please any further questions regarding the HKDSE exam do not hesitate to contact our team!