GCSE Arabic Tutor
One-to-one online preparation for the Edexcel GCSE Arabic exam — the only GCSE Arabic offered in the UK. Speaking practice, formal writing, translation and past papers with a verified tutor, from £5 per 30-minute lesson, starting with a free trial.
Pearson Edexcel (1AA0) is the only UK GCSE Arabic — AQA does not offer it
in England in 2024/25 (DfE, end of Key Stage 4) — a real, nationally sat exam
results are top-heavy because most candidates are heritage speakers — preparation still decides the grade
How the GCSE Arabic exam works
Four papers, each worth 25%, all sat in one exam series at a single tier — Foundation or Higher across the board. A tutor's job is to find the weakest paper early and fix it before exam season.
Paper 1: Listening (25%)
Foundation 35 minutes, Higher 45 minutes — both including 5 minutes' reading time. Recorded material in standard Arabic, 50 marks.
Paper 2: Speaking (25%)
A role play, questions on a picture, and a conversation on two themes. Conducted by the teacher in April/May, recorded, and marked by Pearson. 70 marks — the paper families worry about most.
Paper 3: Reading (25%)
Foundation 50 minutes, Higher 1 hour 5 minutes, 50 marks — including translation from Arabic into English. No dictionaries allowed in any paper.
Paper 4: Writing (25%)
Foundation 1 hour 20, Higher 1 hour 25, 60 marks — open-response writing plus translation into Arabic. Formal written Arabic is where home-dialect habits cost marks.
Standard Arabic, not dialect — the gap a tutor closes
Every GCSE Arabic paper is set in Modern Standard Arabic. Most candidates grew up speaking a dialect at home — Egyptian, Libyan, Levantine, Iraqi — and the distance between the Arabic of the kitchen and the Arabic of the exam hall is where marks are won and lost. Formal writing and translation are the usual weak points for heritage speakers; for students learning Arabic from scratch, the exam is documented as tougher than French, German or Spanish. One-to-one lessons target whichever gap is yours: past-paper marking, timed speaking run-throughs before the April/May assessment, and writing practice that gets honest correction instead of a classroom average.
Prepared outside school, sat like any other GCSE
Only around one in twenty UK secondary schools teaches Arabic, so GCSE Arabic is unusual: most candidates prepare at weekend supplementary schools, at home, or with a tutor, then sit the exam at school or as private candidates at an exam centre. That makes structured one-to-one preparation the norm here, not a luxury. A Qalam tutor plans backwards from the exam date, covers all four skills each week, and keeps a written record of progress — so by the time the speaking exam arrives in spring, it is a rehearsed routine rather than a surprise. Since lessons are online, families in London, Birmingham and anywhere else choose from the same pool of verified tutors.
What GCSE Arabic tutoring costs
Lessons start from £5 per 30-minute lesson, at £10–£24 per hour depending on the tutor, with monthly plans from £40. The first lesson is a free trial — no card required — so the tutor can assess your child's level across listening, speaking, reading and writing before you commit to anything.
See full pricingGCSE Arabic questions, answered
Which exam board offers GCSE Arabic?
Pearson Edexcel is the only UK exam board offering GCSE Arabic — the GCSE (9-1) specification 1AA0, first taught in 2017. AQA does not offer GCSE Arabic. After exam boards moved to withdraw lesser-taught languages in 2014-15, the government intervened in July 2015 and in April 2016 confirmed Arabic would continue at GCSE and A level. So every GCSE Arabic student in the UK prepares for the same Edexcel exam, and our tutors prepare students for that specification.
How is GCSE Arabic assessed?
Four externally examined papers, each worth exactly 25%: listening, speaking, reading and writing. Students enter either Foundation or Higher tier and must take all four papers at the same tier. Dictionaries are not permitted in any paper, including during speaking preparation time. The speaking exam is conducted by the teacher in April or May, recorded, and marked by Pearson; the written papers are sat in May and June.
Is GCSE Arabic hard?
It depends heavily on background. In England in 2024/25, 27.9% of end-of-Key-Stage-4 entries achieved grade 9 — against 7.0% in Spanish — because most candidates grew up with Arabic at home. For those heritage speakers the risk is complacency: the exam requires Modern Standard Arabic, not dialect, and formal writing is routinely the weakest skill. For learners without Arabic at home, a 2025 review by the British Association of Teachers of Arabic found the exam genuinely harder than French, German or Spanish. Either way, targeted one-to-one preparation is what moves the grade.
My child speaks Arabic at home — do they still need a tutor?
Usually yes, and this is the most common GCSE Arabic student we see. The exam is set entirely in Modern Standard Arabic — no dialect — and includes translation both into and out of Arabic. A child who chats fluently in Egyptian or Libyan Arabic can still lose marks on formal grammar, spelling and written structure. Tutors focus on exactly that gap: converting confident spoken Arabic into exam-standard reading and writing.
My child's school doesn't offer Arabic — can they still sit the GCSE?
Yes. Arabic is taught in only around 5% of UK secondary schools, mostly Islamic faith and supplementary schools, so many pupils prepare outside school — at weekend Arabic school or with a tutor — and sit the exam as private candidates at an exam centre that accepts external entries. A tutor can cover the full specification one-to-one, including regular timed speaking practice before the April/May assessment window. Book entries with an exam centre well before the January deadlines.
Did GCSE Arabic change in the 2024 languages reform?
No. The reformed 2024 specifications apply to French, German and Spanish only. GCSE Arabic continues on its existing 2017 Edexcel specification, which means current past papers and the published specification remain valid preparation materials — and tutors can build lessons directly around them.
How much does a GCSE Arabic tutor cost?
Lessons start from £5 per 30 minutes, with pay-per-lesson rates of £10–£24 per hour depending on the tutor. Every family starts with a free trial lesson — a chance for the tutor to gauge your child's current level across the four skills and suggest a plan backwards from the exam date. Gender-matched tutors are standard: a female tutor for daughters, a male tutor for sons, if you want it.
Exam season comes fast
The speaking assessment lands in April/May. Start with a free trial lesson and a plan built backwards from the exam date.
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