Poverty and Homelessness as a Global Issue
Poverty and homelessness as a global issue is the higher-level GCSE writing task that covers causes of poverty, the reality of homelessness, and possible solutions at individual, national and international level. Examiners test whether a student can discuss causes and consequences using a range of tenses (present for facts, perfect for a specific action taken, conditional for hypothetical solutions), give a developed, justified opinion on a difficult social issue, use connectives that build an argument (donc, par conséquent, cependant, même si), a subordinate clause and an impersonal structure such as il faudrait or il est indispensable de, while keeping verb endings, agreement and accents accurate under exam pressure.
Before you start
Make sure you're comfortable with these topics first:
Method
- Underline exactly what each bullet asks about (a cause of poverty, its effects, a past action taken to help, an opinion on solutions) before planning your response.
- Assign a tense per bullet: present tense for facts and ongoing situations (beaucoup de gens vivent dans la pauvreté), perfect tense for a specific past action (le gouvernement a lancé, j'ai fait un don), and conditional for hypothetical solutions (on pourrait, il faudrait, je changerais).
- Build a developed opinion using je pense que or à mon avis, followed by a reason introduced with parce que or car, and where possible a counterpoint introduced with cependant or même si, to show you can weigh up an argument.
- Add a subordinate clause with qui, que or dont to add detail without starting a new sentence, e.g. 'il y a des familles qui n'ont pas de logement stable' or 'la pauvreté est un problème dont les causes sont complexes.'
- Use logical connectives that build an argument rather than just listing facts: donc, par conséquent, c'est pourquoi, cependant, même si, alors que.
- Include at least one impersonal structure of obligation or necessity, such as il faudrait plus an infinitive, il est indispensable de plus an infinitive or il est essentiel que plus a subjunctive, to propose a solution.
- Check verb endings, especially on irregular verbs used for solutions (pouvoir, devoir), agreement on any adjectives (défavorisé/défavorisée), and accents on words like pauvreté, société and sans-abri before the final draft.
Worked example
Write about poverty and homelessness in French. Mention: what you understand by poverty and homelessness as a problem in society; one cause of poverty; something that has been done, in your area or elsewhere, to help homeless people; your opinion on what more should be done to solve this problem. Write approximately 40 words.
- Plan: bullet 1 = present tense definition/fact; bullet 2 = present tense with a cause; bullet 3 = perfect tense for a real or realistic past action; bullet 4 = conditional plus an impersonal structure for a solution.
- Build bullet 1: 'La pauvreté touche des millions de personnes qui n'ont pas assez d'argent pour vivre décemment.' - present tense, subordinate clause with qui.
- Build bullet 2: 'Une cause importante est le chômage, qui empêche les gens de subvenir à leurs besoins.' - present tense, cause named, subordinate clause.
- Build bullet 3: 'L'année dernière, une association locale a ouvert un nouveau centre d'hébergement pour les sans-abri.' - perfect tense, specific detail.
- Build bullet 4: 'À mon avis, il faudrait construire plus de logements sociaux, même si cela coûterait cher au gouvernement.' - conditional, impersonal structure, counterpoint with même si.
- Check accuracy: chômage keeps its circumflex, sans-abri is invariable, and coûterait uses the correct conditional ending -ait before writing the final version.
Practice questions
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Q1Give the conditional tense of 'devoir' for 'on'.Show answer
Answer: on devrait (e.g. 'on devrait aider plus les sans-abri').
Q2Translate into French: 'The government should build more social housing.'Show answer
Answer: Le gouvernement devrait construire plus de logements sociaux.
Q3Give one French word for 'unemployment'.Show answer
Answer: le chômage.
Q4Fill the gap: 'Beaucoup de familles ___ (vivre) sous le seuil de pauvreté.'Show answer
Answer: vivent - the ils/elles form of vivre.
Q5Give a connective meaning 'consequently/therefore'.Show answer
Answer: par conséquent (or donc).
Q6Correct the error: 'Il y a beaucoup de personne sans-abri dans les grandes villes.'Show answer
Answer: Il y a beaucoup de personnes sans-abri dans les grandes villes - personne needed the plural -s after beaucoup de, while sans-abri itself stays invariable.
Q7Write one sentence with a subordinate clause using 'dont' about the causes of poverty.Show answer
Answer: La pauvreté est un problème dont les causes sont souvent liées au chômage et au manque d'éducation.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a GCSE French exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Write about poverty and homelessness in French. Mention: what poverty means to you; one cause of poverty or homelessness; something you have done, or could do, to help; your opinion on whether enough is being done to solve this problem. Write approximately 40 words in French.
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Write an opinion piece in French for a school newspaper on poverty and homelessness as a global issue. Mention: what causes poverty in different parts of the world; the effects poverty and homelessness can have on individuals and families; an example of an organisation or a person working to reduce poverty; your opinion on whether individuals can really make a difference to this global problem; what you personally intend to do to help in the future. Write approximately 90 words in French.
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See real GCSE French past-paper questions, with official mark schemes →
Free printable worksheet
Want more practice on paper? Download the poverty and homelessness as a global issue worksheet pack - 8 pages of exam-style questions with a full mark scheme. One email opens every download in this browser for 14 days - no account, no card. Print it for personal and classroom use.
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