Cambridge IGCSE French 0520/22 is the May/June 2026 Paper 2 (Reading), variant 2. It lasts 1 hour, is worth 45 marks and is sat by every 0520 candidate. It had six compulsory questions that grow longer and harder as you go. The first three and the fifth need only letters or ticks; Questions 4 and 6 need short answers in French and carry 23 marks between them. This guide goes through the paper question by question and shows which answers the official mark scheme accepted, tolerated or refused. The paper and its mark scheme are free on the Tutopiya Learning Portal.

For an overview of all four 0520 components from this series, see IGCSE French 0520 May/June 2026 past papers: what came up and how it was marked.

0520/22 at a glance

Question	Text	Response	Marks
1	Five sentences about everyday items, six pictures	Letter (A–F)	5
2	Eight supermarket signs, five shoppers	Letter (A–H)	5
3	Sonia on her family, chores and her little sister	Tick one of three (A–C)	7
4	Ben’s boat trip with his brother and grandparents	Short answers in French	12
5	Five parents’ requests and eight holiday courses for teenagers	Number (1–8)	5
6	Marianne, a school eco-delegate	Short answers in French	11
	Total		45

Question-by-question walkthrough

Question 1: pictures (5 marks)

Five short sentences, each naming one item: a small car (E), flowers (C), a new mobile phone (D), a hat (A) and a croque-monsieur (B). Picture F, an umbrella, was not used. This tests basic vocabulary only.

Question 2: supermarket signs (5 marks)

Eight signs (A–H) and five shoppers. You have to link what each person wants to the right department, so you need to know the section names, not just the items.

• Paying for your shopping goes to the checkout (a, B).
• A birthday cake goes to the pâtisserie (b, H).
• Chocolate ice cream goes to frozen food (c, E).
• Sausages go to the charcuterie (d, A).
• Part (e), a shopper who needs lemonade, matches the drinks sign.

Question 3: Sonia’s family (7 marks)

A short first-person text with seven three-option questions. Each answer is a paraphrase of the text rather than the same words, so the skill tested is recognising synonyms.

• She has a pet (a, B), a white dog, so she isn’t an only child and she has a sister, not a brother.
• Her father often travels for work (b, A) and she likes doing sport with him (c, C).
• She finds Sunday chores exhausting, so the answer is the synonym “tiring” (d, A).
• The two girls wash up every day after dinner, which is evenings (e, C).
• They sometimes argue (f, B), and she doesn’t like taking her sister into town with her friends (g, A).

Question 4: Ben’s boat trip (12 marks)

Ben describes a summer day at sea with his brother Luc and his grandparents. There are 11 parts, one worth 2 marks, and the answers are in French in the order of the text. The scheme sets four rules for this question: a few harmless extra words are accepted, the subject must be clear, any language you change must be correct, and a different time frame may be acceptable depending on the question.

• (a) Where the grandparents live (1): by the sea, “au bord de la mer”; “bord de la mer” was tolerated. Writing a full sentence that begins with “ses grands-parents qui habitent…” was marked INV.
• (b) Two holiday activities (2): playing tennis and going on trips in the area.
• (c) Who booked the trip (1): the possessive is essential. “Ses grands-parents”, “les grands-parents de Ben” or “leurs grands-parents” scored; “les grands-parents”, “grands-parents” and “leur grands-parents” were refused.
• (d) and (e) (2): the grandparents sat inside; the sea was calm. “L’eau calme” was refused.
• (f) Luc’s passion (1): photography.
• (g) What Ben did at the stop (1): he jumped into the water; “dans l’eau” is underlined, so it must be in the answer.
• (h) End of the swim (1): two blasts of the horn. “Les coups de klaxon” was tolerated.
• (i) Why Luc stayed on board (1): he can’t swim well. “Bien” is underlined and required, starting with “comme” invalidated the answer, and leaving out “ne” was tolerated.
• (j) Why Ben liked the menu (1): he is vegan. Saying there were lots of salads and fresh fruit was also accepted.
• (k) Next time (1): “(faire) de la plongée sous-marine”. Without “sous-marine” the answer was refused, and so was the misspelling “plonge sous-marine”, because “plonge” is a different French word. Adding the reason (to admire the wildlife) was a harmless addition.

Question 5: holiday courses (5 marks)

Five parents (a–e) describe what their teenager wants, and you choose from eight courses (1–8), so three are never used. The skill tested is checking every condition: whether the course is residential, the group size, and whether experience is needed. The official answers are a3, b7, c4, d2, e6.

• (a) A painter interested in stage sets, small group: course 3, a small workshop where teams of four paint a mural. Course 1 is also painting, but it is about portraits.
• (b) A boy who has already acted, residential course wanted: course 7, for people who have been on stage, with a hotel stay. Course 5 is residential too, but it is dance and singing.
• (c) A girl fascinated by costumes who loves sewing: course 4, making clothes.
• (d) A dancer, non-residential, who wants to work on her voice and perform: course 2, movement and singing with a show in front of an audience. Course 5 also has dancing and singing, but it is residential.
• (e) A shy boy who needs a small group and structured dialogues: course 6, role-play games for six people at most. Course 8 is acting too, but it needs at least twenty.

Question 6: Marianne the eco-delegate (11 marks)

An article about a student re-elected as her class eco-delegate, her plan to cut canteen waste and a poster campaign to save energy. There are nine parts, two of them worth 2 marks. The scheme asks for a precise lift: finding the right sentence isn’t enough, and extra words can cancel the mark. Answers must also respond directly to the question.

• (a) How long she has been a delegate (1): two years, with or without “depuis”. “Il y a deux ans” was INV, because it answers “when”, not “how long”.
• (b) Why she stood again (1): she had enjoyed her first year. Answers beginning “comme elle…” were refused.
• (c) Two reasons she was re-elected easily (2): her presentation was well organised, and her programme was very clear. “La présentation” or “le programme” on their own were tc; “la présentation de Marianne” was accepted.
• (d) How some delegates felt (1): (a bit) nervous.
• (e) Why she spoke first (1): she was the most experienced. “Parce qu’elle avait de l’expérience” was refused; “plus expérimentée” without “la” was tolerated.
• (f) Two measures decided (2): recycling bins for bread, and smaller portions. Answers that began “Marianne voulait…” or “elle souhaitait…” were refused, because the question asks what was decided, not what she wanted.
• (g) Her reaction (1): she was (very) proud; “très fière” on its own was tc.
• (h) What the delegates did about energy (1): they put posters in the classrooms.
• (i) The volunteers’ role (1): to check the classrooms regularly. Copying “donc” from the text was INV.

Where the marks are on 0520/22

• Non-verbal answers carried 22 marks: Questions 1, 2, 3 and 5. These test vocabulary and careful reading, and need no written French.
• Short answers in French carried 23 marks: Question 4 (12) and Question 6 (11). These decide the higher grades.
• Question 4 mostly rewards finding the right detail. Its refuse notes are about an unclear subject (4(c)) or a missing or wrong key word (4(e), 4(i), 4(k)).
• Question 6 is stricter: the precise lift rule, and the INV, tc and refuse notes in seven of its nine parts, mean an answer can be in the right area of the text and still score nothing.

How to self-mark 0520/22 with the mark scheme

1. Mark the letter and number answers first (Questions 1, 2, 3 and 5): one mark each, 22 in total.
2. Learn the symbols before you mark Questions 4 and 6. Underlined words must be in your answer; words in brackets are optional; INV means extra material cancelled the mark; tc means the answer isn’t enough on its own; HA means the extra words were harmless.
3. Check who your answer is about. The scheme says the subject must be unambiguous, and Question 4(c) shows a missing or wrong possessive costs the mark.
4. Check that your answer actually answers the question. “Il y a deux ans” for “how long”, and “she wanted to…” for “what was decided”, were both refused.
5. Judge spelling by sound and look. If your answer sounds like the right word and doesn’t make another French word, it should score; if it makes a different word, it doesn’t.
6. For two-line answers, the scheme says both correct answers on one line with the other line blank scores 2, but if the other line holds a wrong answer it scores 1.

Sit 0520/22 as a timed mock

You have 60 minutes for 45 marks. The early questions are quick, so bank time for Questions 4 to 6.

Block	Marks	Time
Question 1	5	3 minutes
Question 2	5	3 minutes
Question 3	7	7 minutes
Question 4	12	14 minutes
Question 5	5	9 minutes
Question 6	11	17 minutes
Check possessives, subjects and extra words	–	7 minutes

For Question 5, underline each parent’s conditions before you read the eight courses, then rule courses out one condition at a time.

Other May/June 2026 0520 papers

• 0520 Paper 12 (Listening)
• 0520 Paper 42 (Writing)

Practise and download

• Download 0520/22 and its mark scheme on the Learning Portal →
• All 0520 May/June 2026 papers: overview and marking patterns
• Try a free IGCSE French quiz

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

Frequently asked questions

What texts were on 0520 Paper 22 Reading May/June 2026? +

Six questions: matching sentences to pictures, matching shoppers to supermarket signs, Sonia's account of her family and chores, Ben's boat trip with his grandparents, matching five teenagers to eight holiday courses, and an article about Marianne, a school eco-delegate who cut canteen waste.

How many marks is 0520/22 and how long is it? +

It is out of 45 marks and lasts 1 hour. Questions 4 and 6 need short answers in French and carry 23 of the 45 marks between them.

Is spelling marked on 0520 Paper 2? +

Answers in French are marked for communication, so small spelling slips are tolerated if the answer still sounds or looks like the right one. A slip that makes a different French word is not, and the scheme refused 'la plonge sous-marine' for 'la plongée sous-marine' in Question 4(k).

What do INV, tc and HA mean in the 0520/22 mark scheme? +

INV (invalidation) means extra words cancel an otherwise correct answer, tc (tout court) means the answer is not enough on its own, and HA (harmless addition) means extra words that don't cost the mark. For example, 'il y a deux ans' was INV in Question 6(a), while 'deux ans' scored.

What was the answer to 0520/22 Question 5? +

The mark scheme gives a3, b7, c4, d2, e6. Each correct match scores one mark, for 5 marks in all.

Where can I download 0520/22 May/June 2026 and its mark scheme? +

Both are free to download and print on the Tutopiya Learning Portal, on the Cambridge IGCSE French 0520 past papers page.

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