Setting GCSE Speaking Homework Pupils Actually Do

Speaking homework gets done when it's specific, short and visible. Set one named task rather than "practise your speaking", keep it to a single part of the exam, and let pupils know you'll see who did it. Then use what comes back to plan the next lesson.

Why speaking homework doesn't get done

"Practise your speaking" gives a pupil nothing to start with and nothing to finish. There is no task to open, no one to talk to, and no sign that anyone will notice either way. Written homework has a page to hand in. Speaking homework needs the same three things: a task, a partner, and a record.

Set one card, not "practise"

Choose one role play, one photo card or one reading-aloud text from your class's board and tier, and set that. Pupils know exactly what to do, the homework takes minutes rather than an evening, and every pupil has done the same task, so the next lesson can start from it.

See who practised

The homework only works if you can see it. The simplest version is a voice recording submitted through your usual homework platform. Whatever you use, look for completion for each pupil, their performance on the task, and the mistakes that keep coming up across the class. That last one is your next starter activity.

Stop English translations doing the work

If pupils can look up or switch on an English translation of every question, some will. For homework that's meant to test listening and response, ask for it without translations, and check.

More speaking time for every pupil in a class of 30

In a lesson, each pupil gets a few minutes of speaking at most. Homework is where the real volume can come from: every pupil speaking, out loud, at the same time. Use lesson time for what only you can do, such as modelling, feedback and the next step, and move the repetition out of the classroom.

Where Tête-à-Tête fits

Recordings and speaking partners work, but you have to listen to every one. Tête-à-Tête does the listening for you. You set a specific role play, photo card or reading-aloud text as homework and preview it from both the pupil's side and the examiner's. Then you see completion for each pupil with their most recent mark, and the class's Progress tab shows recurring mistake themes. You can switch English translations off for a homework and see whether a pupil used them.