The Cambridge IGCSE French (0520) May/June 2026 papers and mark schemes are out, and they’re free. Listening, Reading and Writing (0520/12, /22 and /42), plus the listening transcript and the Speaking role-play cards and teacher notes, can be downloaded and printed on the Tutopiya Learning Portal. Below is a breakdown of what each paper tested and how the mark scheme gave marks, taken from the papers themselves.

Key points from the 2026 0520 papers

• Travel and holidays ran through every paper. A flight to Paris and a seaside town in Listening, a boat trip in Reading, a long walk or a hotel stay in Writing, and role plays at a train station, a bank and a holiday village in Speaking.
• Listening was built on distractors. Speakers often mention one option and then rule it out. In the farm interview, Adrien names the country a friend went to before saying where he went himself.
• Celebrations appeared twice. Writing Question 2 asked about birthdays, presents and a traditional festival, and one Speaking conversation topic covered customs and festivals, including birthday plans and presents.
• Reading Questions 4 and 6 need short answers in French, and the mark scheme is strict about who the answer refers to. “Les grands-parents” alone was refused; “ses grands-parents” scored.
• Writing rewards a mix of time frames. Question 3(a) needed a past account of the walk and a future plan; Question 3(b) needed a past problem, a reaction and a present-tense comment on hotels.

All May/June 2026 0520 papers

Paper	Code	Duration	Marks	What it tests
Paper 1 Listening	0520/12	About 50 minutes (including 6 minutes’ transfer time)	40	37 multiple-choice and matching questions on recordings heard twice
Paper 2 Reading	0520/22	1 hour	45	Six questions: matching, multiple choice and short answers in French
Paper 3 Speaking	0520/03	About 10 minutes, plus 10 minutes’ preparation	40	A role play and two topic conversations
Paper 4 Writing	0520/42	1 hour	45	A form, an 80 to 90 word task and a 130 to 140 word task

Timings and marks are taken from the front cover of each 2026 paper and, for Speaking, from the candidate cards and teacher notes. Each written paper comes with its official Cambridge mark scheme. For the full list of syllabus content, see the Cambridge IGCSE French – Foreign Language 0520 syllabus.

Which variant is this? Cambridge sets different versions of each written paper (variants) for different time zones. The papers here are variant 2: 0520/12, /22 and /42. The Speaking test is component 0520/03. All variants cover the same syllabus at the same difficulty, so variant 2 is just as good for practice as the one your school sat.

Download the 0520 May/June 2026 papers →

What came up in 0520 Paper 1 (Listening), May/June 2026?

Paper 1 had 37 questions worth 40 marks. You hear every recording twice, tick answers on the question paper, then get six minutes to transfer them to the answer sheet. Questions 1 to 34 need one letter; Questions 35 to 37 need two.

Questions	Format	What the recording was about	Marks
1–8	Short remarks, picture choices (A–D)	A flight to Paris: the departure gate, the vegetarian meal, a drink, a fellow passenger’s job, her pet and what she likes doing in Paris, items on special offer, the weather on arrival	8
9–14	Announcement, picture choices (A–D)	A tourist guide to the seaside town of Castel-en-Bessin: the beach, a local dessert, the Saturday market, a summer sailing club, a playground activity and tourist office closing time	6
15–19	Conversation, matching (A–F)	A brother and sister choosing a 70th birthday present for their grandfather: a balloon flight, a pastry workshop, a golf weekend, diving and football tickets	5
20–28	Two-part interview, A–C	Adrien’s two-week placement on a farm abroad: why he chose that country, his agricultural school, his daily tasks, the type of farm, living with the farmer’s family, his grant and the highlight of his stay	9
29–34	Interview, A–D	Gilles at a young inventors’ fair: why he entered, his childhood interest in making things, his invention, what he enjoys about inventing and his plans	6
35–37	Interview, choose two of A–E	Clara on snowshoeing in Quebec: how she started, what it does for her, her club, safety advice and what she enjoys	6

What made it hard: the longer interviews mention several of the options on the paper. In Questions 15 to 19, for example, a gift idea is turned down because the grandfather had already had it, another because of the price, and another because the grandmother wouldn’t agree. Listen to the whole turn before you tick.

What came up in 0520 Paper 2 (Reading)?

Paper 2 had six questions worth 45 marks, getting longer and harder as you go.

Question	Topic	Marks
1	Match five sentences to pictures: a small car, flowers, a lost phone, a hat, a croque-monsieur	5
2	Supermarket signs (checkout, deli, frozen food, fish, drinks, cakes and others): match five shoppers to the right section	5
3	Sonia describes her family, her father’s travel for work, Sunday chores and arguments with her little sister (multiple choice)	7
4	Ben’s summer boat trip with his brother and grandparents: where they sat, the calm sea, a swimming stop, a vegan-friendly lunch, plans to try diving (answers in French)	12
5	Five parents describe what their teenagers want from a holiday course; match each to one of eight drama, painting, costume, singing and role-play courses	5
6	Marianne, re-elected as a class eco-delegate: why she stood again, cutting canteen food waste, energy-saving posters and volunteers checking classrooms (answers in French)	11

Watch for: Question 5 hinges on small details. Several courses look right until you check whether they are residential, how big the group is, or whether you need stage experience.

What came up in 0520 Paper 4 (Writing)?

You answer Questions 1 and 2, then either Question 3(a) or 3(b).

Question	Task	Marks
1	Complete a poster for a holiday club in your neighbourhood: an opening day, a location, two activities and an item to bring	5
2	Les fêtes (80–90 words): your birthday routine, presents you like, a traditional festival in your country, celebrating in town or at home and why, and next New Year	12
3(a)	Email to a Belgian friend about a long walk (130–140 words): who you went with, the place, lunchtime, the benefits of walking, your next outing	28
3(b)	Blog about a problem during a hotel stay (130–140 words): the hotel, the problem, your reaction, the advantages of hotels, where you’d like your next holiday	28

What made it hard: both Question 3 tasks had five bullet points in at least three time frames. Leaving one out, or writing it in the wrong tense, pulls you out of the top Task completion band.

What came up in 0520 Paper 3 (Speaking)?

The Speaking test lasts about 10 minutes after 10 minutes’ preparation, during which you may not make notes. It has three parts: a role play (about 2 minutes), then two topic conversations of 4 minutes each. Your teacher picks your card and topics in a fixed sequence, so you can’t choose them.

The nine 2026 role-play situations were: planning a visit to a cinema museum with a French friend; phoning a language school in Switzerland; chatting to another traveller at a French station; phoning a campsite owner about a job; buying a birthday book for your brother with a Tunisian friend; planning a holiday-village stay with a Swiss friend; changing money in a French bank; going to a sports centre with a Belgian friend; and going to a music festival with a French friend. Each has five questions, and the later ones ask about past experiences, opinions and reasons.

The seven conversation topics were food and drink, home, leisure, your region and country, the natural world and the environment, education and work, and culture, customs and festivals. The first conversation comes from the first three topics and the second from the last four. Within each topic, the questions move from simple facts to past events, opinions and the future.

How the 0520 May/June 2026 mark scheme gives marks

Reading the 2026 mark schemes side by side shows a consistent marking style. Knowing it is often worth more marks than extra revision.

1. Listening is one mark per correct letter. Questions 1 to 34 are worth one mark each. Questions 35 to 37 are worth two marks each, one for each correct statement. The paper says to shade two letters there, so don’t leave the second box empty.

2. Reading answers are marked for communication, but who they’re about must be clear. Paper 2 Question 4(c) asked who had booked the boat trip. “Ses grands-parents” or “les grands-parents de Ben” scored; “les grands-parents” and “grands-parents” on their own were refused. Spelling is tolerated if it sounds or looks like the right answer, but not if it makes a different French word.

3. Question 6 needs a precise lift, and extra words can cost you. The scheme says a precise lift is needed, not just the right area of the text. In Question 6(a), “deux ans” scored but “il y a deux ans” was marked INV (invalidation). In Question 6(f), you had to give the measures that were decided, so answers starting “Marianne voulait…” were refused. Copying “donc” into the answer to 6(i) also invalidated it.

4. “tc” means the answer is too thin on its own. In Question 6(b), “la présentation” alone was marked tc (tout court) and scored nothing. In Question 4(k), diving had to be “plongée sous-marine”: dropping “sous-marine” lost the mark.

5. Writing Question 1 accepts any sensible word, if it fits the gap. The opening day could be any day, or “le week-end”. The location had to be a place in the neighbourhood, such as a street or “à côté de la gare”; just naming a town or writing “centre-ville” was refused. For the item to bring, drinks were refused (the poster already printed “boisson” in that line).

6. Question 2 is one 12-mark grid. The 10 to 12 band needs all tasks covered in the required detail, relevant information and opinions, and a range of simple connectors. The 7 to 9 band is “most tasks” with some repetition. The 2026 scheme adds that if you used the future instead of the conditional for the New Year bullet, you could still reach 11 if everything else was done well.

7. Question 3 is marked on three grids: Task completion (10), Range (10) and Accuracy (8). For Task completion, a one-line answer to a bullet (“the place was nice”) doesn’t count as detailed. The 2026 notes say lunchtime needed some context, the hotel reaction had to be a negative reaction to the problem, and the advantages of hotels should be a general comment in the present tense. For Range, the top band means frequent extended, well-linked sentences and complex structures. For Accuracy, gender errors count, and a very short answer with no errors is capped at 4.

8. Speaking: 10 marks for the role play and 30 for the conversations. Each of the five role-play responses scores up to 2 marks; a short answer scores 2 if it fully communicates and is accurate, with minor errors allowed. The two conversations together get one mark out of 15 for Communication and one out of 15 for Quality of Language. If the teacher often has to use the alternative questions, you’re likely to land in the 7 to 9 “Satisfactory” band for Communication. The 13 to 15 band needs you to develop ideas often and justify some answers.

Which papers should you sit?

There is one route for 0520: you take all four components, Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing. There are no Core and Extended papers. The only choice on the day is in Writing Question 3, where you answer either 3(a) or 3(b). If you answer both, the scheme says the better mark is taken, but you will have lost time you needed.

How to use the 2026 papers as a mock

1. Do Listening with the audio, not the transcript. Use the transcript only after marking, to find exactly where you were caught by a distractor.
2. Time Reading strictly at one hour. Save at least 25 minutes for Questions 4 to 6, which carry 28 of the 45 marks.
3. Write Question 3 in the real word range. Aim for 130 to 140 words, tick off all five bullet points, and check you have used past, present and future.
4. Mark Reading against the scheme line by line. Look for answers refused for a missing possessive, an extra word copied from the text, or a lift that wasn’t precise enough.
5. Practise one role play and two conversations aloud. Use the topic areas above and time yourself at 4 minutes per conversation, giving a reason or an example in every answer.

More IGCSE French resources

• IGCSE French past papers (Cambridge and Edexcel, all years)
• IGCSE past papers 2026: all subjects

🔍 Looking for a specific past paper? Use our free Past Paper Finder to search by subject, year and exam board.

Need help with a 0520 topic? Book a free trial lesson with an IGCSE French tutor →

Frequently asked questions

Are the 0520 May/June 2026 past papers free? +

Yes. The Listening (0520/12), Reading (0520/22) and Writing (0520/42) papers, their mark schemes, the listening transcript and the Speaking (0520/03) role-play cards and teacher notes are free to download and print on the Tutopiya Learning Portal.

What topics came up in 0520 Paper 2 Reading May/June 2026? +

Paper 2 had six questions: matching pictures of everyday items, supermarket signs, Sonia's family and household chores, Ben's boat trip with his grandparents, matching teenagers to drama, painting, costume and dance courses, and Marianne's work as a school eco-delegate cutting canteen waste.

What were the 0520 Writing tasks in May/June 2026? +

Question 1 was a poster for a local holiday club, Question 2 was 80 to 90 words on festivals and celebrations, and Question 3 was a choice of an email about a long walk or a blog about a problem in a hotel, both 130 to 140 words.

How is 0520 Paper 4 Question 3 marked? +

It is marked out of 28 using three grids: Task completion (10), Range (10) and Accuracy (8). To reach the top Task completion band you must answer every bullet point with detailed information, opinions and explanations.

Why can't I find 0520/21 or 0520/23 for 2026? +

Only variant 2 of the May/June 2026 written papers is on the portal at the moment. Cambridge sets different variants for different time zones; variants 1 and 3 test the same syllabus in the same format, so variant 2 prepares you just as well.

When will the October/November 2026 0520 papers be available? +

Cambridge usually releases the October/November papers in the new year. We add them to the Learning Portal once they are published.

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