Asking GCSE French pupils to translate a passage about a ‘bisexual sister, her divorced parents and jobless brother’ is more about social values than language, critics have argued.
One of the country’s largest examining boards was lambasted by parents, teachers and pupils alike for ‘engineering woke material’ into a recent listening and translation exam.
Pupils were left perplexed this week when an audio passage authorised by exam board Pearson Edexcel began to detail a fictional French family including a ‘bisexual sister’.
Some pupils thought they heard the phrase ‘my little sister is sexual’ and left the exam hall mystified as to the purpose of the description.
The exam’s commentary on the social conditions of France continued with reference to the bisexual sister’s jobless brother and divorced parents.
Pupils were left perplexed this week when an audio passage authorised by exam board Pearson Edexcel began to detail a fictional French family including a ‘bisexual sister’ (stock image)
One mother of a 16-year-old boy who took the exam told The Times that parents and pupils wanted a balance between day-to-day phrases and understanding the origins of the language.
She added: ‘He was mortified, not at the idea that the concept of bisexuality came up... (but) that it was shoehorned into a French exam.
'It’s just not appropriate in that context.’
A spokesman for Pearson Edexcel said: ‘We regularly review our content, and we will continue to do so with the French listening exam.’