General Qualification Bulletin - UK - Issue 15
Dear Colleagues,
Welcome to the first edition of the academic year of the general qualifications bulletin.
I sincerely hope that you have had a lovely break over the course of the last few weeks and that you were able to celebrate the results of your learners.
We start a new year again with all the buzz and excitement that returning to learning brings and as always we promise to support you as quickly and as clearly as soon as we have any relevant information.
I know there are still uncertainties around some assessments in 2022 but I hope that by the end of September we should have had confirmation from the Department for Education and Ofqual about the path to take this year. I encourage you to read the DfE and Ofqual consultation (PDF|0.5 MB) and the relevant sections for your subjects. Whilst the proposals are not confirmed they may help you with planning and teaching and learning, something that you have told us you are keen to get finalised as soon as possible.
Our Summer 2022 support web page is also live, please make sure you have a look and know where to navigate to for the relevant information.
For some of you, you may also be involved or using the October/November series. Within this bulletin is some key information we think will be helpful. You can also find this on our October/November 2021 exam series web page.
Lastly, I will continue to send these bulletins on a fortnightly basis. I know there will continue to be important information to share over the coming weeks and months and I will endeavor to share this as early as possible. During the alternate weeks we will continue sending our exams officer updates, which you can sign up to via our Exams officer update form.
Please continue to visit our dedicated Summer 2021 support page, and follow us on Twitter (@ PearsonEdexcel) to keep up to date. If you would like to speak to us directly, you can get in touch with any questions via our contact us form. You can also contact us by calling the relevant team for your role, contact details can be found on our Contact us page.
Hayley White
Assessment Director
Entry requirements and key dates for the October and November series can be found below and on our October/November 2021 exam series web page.
| Qualification | Exam Session | Entries Deadline | Late Fees Charged | Higher Late fees/refund and amendment deadline | Higher Late fees/amendment fees charged |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AS/A Level | November 2021 |
08/09/2021 | 09/09/2021 | 06/10/2021 | 07/10/2021 |
| GCSE and International GCSE | Novemer 2021 | 04/10/2021 | 05/10/2021 | 31/10/2021 | 01/11/2021 |
Basedata for this October/November series is also available now.
4 October 2021 – First AS/A Level examinations
1 November 2021 – First GCSE and International GCSE examinations.
Timetables
The final timetables for all UK and International qualifications in October and November can now be found on our Timetables web page.
There are no R papers available for International GCSE qualifications this series.
Autumn (October/November) 2021 series fees
We know that the opportunity to sit examinations remains important for many of your students and we remain committed to supporting students' progress. We have decided to freeze autumn (October/November) 2021 exam fees for all our general qualifications (GCSE, International GCSE and AS/A level). This means that the fees for this series will remain the same as the fees published for summer 2021.
Digital Learner Work Transfer
The following units will be using the Digital Learner Work Transfer system in the October series.
More information about the system, including how to upload samples and accepted file formats, can be found on our Learner Work Transfer (LWT) web page.
GCSE Art & Design:
- 1AD0_02
- 1FA0_02
- 1GC0_02
- 1PY0_02
- 1TD0_02
- 1TE_02
A Level Art & Design:
- 9AD0_02
- 9FA0_02
- 9GC0_02
- 9PY0_02
- 9TD0_02
- 9TE0_02
For all other subjects, samples will be submitted as hard copies in the usual way.
We know that some customers may be intending to sit exams in January 2022. Please make sure that you have looked at which International GCSE qualifications are available in the series via our International qualifications autumn 2021 and January 2022 exam series document (PDF|0.1 MB), as there have been some amendments made. The final timetables for the series are also available on our Timetables web page. We can confirm that there will be no adjustments made to assessments for this series, other than the changes to International GCSE English Literature 4ET1.
Digital Learner Work Transfer
The following units will be using the Digital Learner Work Transfer system in the January series.
More information about the system, including how to upload samples and accepted file formats, can be found on our Learner Work Transfer (LWT) web page.
Project Qualification:
- P101 Foundation
- P201 Higher
- P301 Extended
- P302 Extended
- P303 Extended
- P304 Extended
International GCSE:
- 4EA1_03 English Language A
- 4ET1_03 English Literature
For all other subjects, samples will be submitted as hard copies in the usual way.
We fully understand teachers need to plan their courses for the forthcoming academic year. In July, the DfE and Ofqual released their consultation on the format of assessments in summer 2022 for UK GCSE, AS and A level. This consultation has now closed and we await the final outcome. Full details can be found in the DfE and Ofqual consultation document (PDF|0.5 MB). We know there are still uncertainties around some assessments in 2022 but hope that by the middle to end of September we should have confirmation.
The proposals for each subject are set out in Annex A of the consultation document.
Ofqual has finished consulting on arrangements for non-examined assessments in 2022. The consultation was on subjects with practical elements. The outcomes can be found on the Ofqual website. We’ll continue to keep our Summer 2022 support page up to date with the latest information.
We are also working on arrangements for International GCSE qualifications and will share a further update once confirmed.
The updated guidance on awarding results in 2021 can be found on our Assesment hub web page.
You will find videos of briefings and Q&A sessions with additional detail, alongside the guidance.
If you’d like to find out the latest information and support for our vocational qualifications, please take a look at our Supporting FE during Coronavirus web page where you can find news and updates, with links to our regular VQ Bulletin which contains all the key updates you need for our vocational qualifications.