A Level Chinese Mandarin
exam board: edexcel
A two-year course developing fluency, cultural understanding and independent research skills in Mandarin Chinese — exploring the society and culture of the Chinese-speaking world through four themes, a literary text and a film.
We use an active-learning, immersive approach that builds language through the study of real Chinese society and culture. The course is structured around four themes — changes in contemporary Chinese society, Chinese culture, evolving Chinese society, and the impact of the 1978 reforms — alongside a set literary text (A Pigeon Named Feng) and film (Please Vote for Me). Listening, reading, translation, writing and speaking skills are developed throughout.
Year 12
| Theme | topic knowledge & skills | |
|---|---|---|
| Theme 1Changes in Contemporary Chinese Society |
Family The changing Chinese family. Work explores family structure, gender roles and childcare, China’s ageing population and the causes and solutions behind it, the generation gap and how it might be bridged, and the story of family planning from the one-child to the new three-child policy. |
Education & Work School and working life. Work compares the Chinese and UK education systems and a typical school day, explores student issues from regional differences to pressure and the social-economic gap, and considers employment: varied opportunities, barriers to equality, ‘peasant workers’ and work-life balance. |
| Theme 2Chinese Culture |
Traditions & Festivals
The rhythms of the year. Work explores traditions and customs and their roots in agriculture, then the folk tales, customs and celebrations behind three great festivals: the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Dragon-Boat Festival and Qing Ming. |
Cultural Activities
Culture in everyday life. Work explores China’s film industry and cinema-going, television and streaming, traditional instruments and music of all kinds, and reading — from early books to classic and modern literature. |
| Theme 3 (part 1)Evolving Chinese Society |
Communication & Technology
A society transformed by technology. Work explores the development of communication and media, internet technology and censorship, social media platforms and their pros and cons for individuals and society, and the benefits and worries of modern technology. Theme 3 part 2 is covered in Year 13. |
Literature
The set text is introduced: ????????? (A Pigeon Named Feng) by Cao Wenxuan — students begin reading, analysing and responding to the prescribed literary work that features in the Paper 2 exam. |
Year 13
| Theme | topic knowledge & skills | |
|---|---|---|
| Theme 3 (part 2)Evolving Chinese Society |
Economy & Environment Growth and its cost. Work explores modern Chinese history, the economic boom and the current climate, then the environmental issues bound up with that growth, their consequences, and the awareness, movements and government schemes working towards environmental protection. |
Film
The set film is studied: ??????? (Please Vote for Me) — students analyse and respond to the prescribed film that features in the Paper 2 exam. |
| Theme 4The Impact of Reform & Opening Up in 1978 | Reform
China after 1978. Work explores the rich-poor gap — its causes, consequences and solutions — the rise of super-cities and why they exist, the phenomenon of urban migration and its causes and effects, and questions of work ethics and work-life balance. |
China-UK Relationship
Two nations in dialogue. Work explores trade past and present, cultural exchanges — Chinese culture in the UK and British culture in China — and educational exchanges, both those that already exist and how they might develop in the future. |
| Summer | Revision & Exams
The final stretch. Revision is active: the four themes revisited, the literary text and film consolidated, essay writing and exam technique sharpened, past papers practised, and speaking — including the independent research project — rehearsed for the oral exam. |
All candidates sit three externally assessed papers at the end of Year 13. No dictionaries are permitted in any paper.
Paper 1: Listening, Reading & Translation
Listening (30) and reading (30) comprehension across a range of sources, plus translation of an unseen passage from Chinese into English (20).
Paper 3: Speaking
Internally conducted, externally assessed
A discussion on one theme (30), followed by a presentation and discussion of the student’s own independent research project (42).
Paper 2: Written Response to Works & Translation
Translation of an unseen passage from English into Chinese (20), plus extended written responses to the set literary text and film (50 each).