The vocabulary content of the French MFL curriculum in England has received criticism (Häcker, M. 2008. Eleven pets and 20 ways to express one's opinion: the vocabulary learners of German acquire at English secondary schools. "The Language Learning Journal" 36, no. 2: 215-26; Tschichold, C. 2012. French vocabulary in Encore "Tricolore": do learners have a chance? "The Language Learning Journal" 40, no. 1: 7-19) for its small size, lack of thematic variety, and poor pedagogical exploitation in textbooks. Studies also note the small vocabulary knowledge of learners in UK compared with other French learners, ostensibly at the same CEFR B1 level (David, A. 2008. Vocabulary breadth in French L2 learners. "The Language Learning Journal" 36, no. 2: 167-80; Milton, J. 2006b. Language lite: learning French vocabulary in school. "Journal of French Language Studies" 16, no. 2: 187-205). This study examines the vocabulary content of the Studio series of French textbooks, first published in 2010, to see whether this situation has improved. Analysis shows the vocabulary loading of the textbooks has fallen over 40% compared with the previous books analysed by Tschichold (2012. French vocabulary in Encore Tricolore: do learners have a chance? "The Language Learning Journal" 40, no. 1: 7-19). This indicates a significant decline in the standard of learning for GCSE French since the vocabulary size of learners is so closely associated with their overall language proficiency. There are problems too with the thematic variety of teaching, the regularity of input, and the recycling of the lexical content. We argue this results from the guidance of advisory bodies such as the National Centre for Excellence for Language Pedagogy (NCELP) and the latest curriculum design (Department for Education. 2015. "Modern Foreign Languages GCSE Subject Content." https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/485567/GCSE_subject_content_modern_foreign_langs.pdf (accessed 30 August, 2020)) MFL subject content so there is no clear standard for textbook writers to work to. Further, the guidance of advisory bodies such as the National Centre for Excellence for Language Pedagogy (NCELP) and the latest curriculum design (Department for Education. 2021. "GCSE MFL Subject Content Review." https://consult.education.gov.uk/ebacc-and-arts-and-humanities-team/gcse-mfl-subject-content-review/supporting_documents/GCSE%20MFL%20subject%20content%20document.pdf (accessed 14 March, 2021)), which damage standards of attainment in MFL by advocating minimal vocabulary content and a departure from thematic input.