General Qualifications Bulletin - UK - Issue 18
Dear Colleague,
I am really pleased that we have now had the outcomes of the 2022 adaptations consultation from the Department for Education and Ofqual. Our guidance and support on these is available on our Summer 2022 support page with some useful frequently asked questions.
There are a number of different types of adaptations for our UK and International assessments in 2022: advance information, optionality, exam support, and NEA/fieldwork adaptions. In addition to these four main categories of adaptations, there are also adaptations to the assessment of practical science work. In this bulletin you will see at a high level what this means for subjects and we will continue to keep you informed through these bulletins and our website. I know that many of you are keen to know the details of what this will look like for your individual subjects and the Joint Council for Qualifications has released some guidance (PDF| 0.1MB) about Advance Information that is an important read. The Advance Information will be released no later than 7 February 2022 but could be earlier, depending on any change in the severity of the pandemic.
It was also confirmed that results days would return to being one week apart with Level 3 qualifications on Thursday 18 August 2022 and Level 2 qualifications on Thursday 25 August 2022. The provisional timetables for next summer are also available on our website, allowing you to begin planning your logistical arrangements for summer 2022 exams.
We are always looking to recruit examiners across our qualifications. This is an excellent opportunity to gain invaluable insight into assessment and to work with other examiners to get some fresh teaching and learning ideas and approaches for your subject. More information about our vacancies, the application criteria and which subjects are currently recruiting can be found on our Assessment Associates web page.
For information on summer 2022 please visit our dedicated Summer 2022 support page. If you have any questions that relate to summer 2021 then please visit our Summer 2021 support page.
You can also 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 form, or by calling the relevant team for your role.
Hayley White
Assessment Director
On 30 September, the Department for Education and Ofqual published the outcomes of the consultation on proposed summer 2022 adaptations, including optionality and advance information.
The consultation concluded that all of the proposals set out in the consultation document would be implemented.
There are four different types of adaptations for assessments in 2022:
- Advance Information
- optionality
- exam support
- NEA / fieldwork adaptations.
The Advance Information will be released no later than 7 February 2022, but earlier if the impact of Covid-19 worsens.
We have created Frequently Asked Questions on our Summer 2022 support page that will give you more detail about the adaptations and will begin to answer your questions.
Please note, that the changes to assessments published on 30 September are only for summer 2022 and are not intended to be carried forward to summer 2023. Schools and colleges should deliver the full course content for GCSE and A level courses due to be assessed in 2023.
Advance Information
For summer 2021, we will provide advance information about the focus of exams for all subjects at GCSE, AS and A level, with the exception of:
GCSE English Literature
GCSE History
GCSE Geography
GCSE, AS and A level Art and Design
Optionality
Schools and colleges will be given some choice about the topics or content that students will be assessed on in the following qualifications only:
GCSE English Literature
GCSE History
GCSE Geography A and Geography B
Formulae Sheets
Students will be given a formulae sheet in GCSE Maths and a revised equations sheet in GCSE Physics and GCSE Combined Science covering all the equations required in the subject content.
We will make these sheets available to schools for use in teaching and so students can familiarise themselves with them. They will also be provided in the exams.
Practical Work
There will be changes to the practical work requirements of some subjects:
- GCSE and A level Art and Design students will not sit the exam and will only be assessed on their portfolio.
- For GCSE Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Combined Science; AS Biology, Chemistry and Physics, teachers will be able to deliver the practical requirement by demonstration. Students will be able to observe a demonstration by the teacher or observe the practical work being undertaken remotely, for example by watching a demonstration online or on video.
- For A level Biology, Chemistry and Physics, teachers can assess the Common Practical Assessment Criteria (CPAC) across the minimum number of practical activities required for students to demonstrate their competence instead of students being required to complete at least 12 practical activities as determined by the DfE subject content.
GCSE Modern Foreign Languages (MFL)
Advance information will be provided by 7 February 2022 at the latest. The following arrangements also apply, except for GCSE Biblical Hebrew:
- Additional optional question (Q.2) in the Foundation Writing assessment, no Theme 5 covered in Q.1 and Q.4, plus 5 minutes extra time.
- Q.3 in the Higher Writing paper will not cover Theme 5.
- Vocabulary in Listening and Reading papers limited to official vocabulary list or glossed.
- Formal speaking exams to resume.*
You can see the full details for each language on our Languages web page.
*If public health restrictions prevent this from happening, the speaking endorsement approach adopted in 2021 will be implemented again in 2022. Teachers are therefore asked to monitor students in relation to the speaking endorsement assessment criteria throughout the year.
Non-Examined Assessment (NEA) and Fieldwork
The arrangements that were put in place in summer 2021 will apply for most subjects in summer 2022.
Read more about the 2022 adaptations consultation outcomes and NEA and field work consultation outcomes.
Please visit the summer 2022 support tab on each qualification page to find out about the specific adaptations which have been put in place for each qualification. The adaptation and optionality information is available on each page. The Advanced Information is not available until it is released and the summer 2022 support materials will display as blank until this time.
International AS/A Levels, iPrimary and iLowerSecondary
Owing to the modular nature of International AS/ A Level qualifications, there are no adaptations (except for IAS/IAL Law which is a linear qualification). We can also confirm there will be no changes to the assessment of iPrimary and iLowerSecondary.
International GCSEs
Advance Information
Advance Information is being provided for most International GCSEs except those with optionality (International GCSE English Literature, History and Geography) and International GCSE English as a Second Language.
Optionality
Schools will be given some choice about the topics or content that students will be assessed on in the following qualifications only:
- International GCSE History
- International GCSE Geography.
Optionality in International GCSE History matches what was in place for the 2021 Series. For International GCSE Geography, Optionality is a new addition alongside the previous adjustments that were made to the qualification for the 2021 Series to make sure that it remains aligned to the UK GCSE in summer 2022.
Adjustments
For International GCSE English Literature the adjustments made for the 2021 series will also be applied in the May/June 2022 series.
Vocabulary in Listening and Reading papers will be limited to the official vocabulary list or glossed. This applies to International GCSEs in Chinese, French, German and Spanish only.
Exam Support Materials
Students will be given a revised equations sheet in International GCSE Physics, International GCSE Science (Double Award) and International GCSE Science (Single Award) covering all Physics equations required in the subject content.
We will make these sheets available to schools for use in teaching and so students can familiarise themselves with them. They will also be provided in the exams.
NEA/Fieldwork Adaptations (this section does not apply to Languages qualifications)
NEA and fieldwork adaptations are amendments to qualification requirements which take account of public health restrictions that could have had an impact on the way the assessments in certain qualifications could be conducted.
NEA adaptations have been made for the UK qualifications mentioned above as well as International GCSE English Language (videos of the optional spoken language endorsement assessments are not required in summer 2022).
Fieldwork adaptations have been made for International GCSE Geography.
Please visit the summer 2022 support tab on each qualification page to find out about the specific adaptations which have been put in place for each qualification. The adaptation and optionality information is available on each page. The Advanced Information is not available until it is released and the summer 2022 support materials will display as blank until this time.
Results days will be returning to one week apart:
- Thursday 18 August: AS/ A level and International AS/A Level and other Level 3 qualifications.
- Thursday 25 August: GCSE, International GCSE and other Level 2 qualifications.
The DfE and Ofqual have launched a consultation on contingency arrangements for awarding Teacher Assessed Grades (TAGs), in the unlikely event that exams are not able to go ahead as planned in summer 2022. The proposals cover GCSEs, AS, A levels, Project qualifications, and the Advanced Extension Award (AEA) in mathematics.
> You can read the consultation on the DfE and Ofqual website.
The provisional timetables for all UK and International qualifications in May/June 2022 are available on our Exam timetables web page. The window for you to provide feedback has now closed and we are working through the comments that have been provided. As soon as timetables are finalised they will be published on our website.
We know that some students 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 exam series list (PDF|0.1MB) as some amendments have been made. The final timetables for the series are also available on our Exam 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. Teachers entering students for the optional spoken language endorsment for International GCSE English Language A or B are not required to make or submit video recordings of assessments.
The final timetables for all International qualifications in January are on our Exam timetables web page (PDF|0.1MB).
Digital Learner Work Transfer - January Units
The following units will also 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 LWT web page.
Project Qualification
- P101 Foundation
- P201 Higher
- P301 Extended
- P302 Extended
- P303 Extended
International GCSE
- 4ET_03 English Language A
- 4ET_01 English Literature
For all other subjects, samples will be submitted as hard copies in the usual way. You can find out more about coursework and NEA submission on our NEA support page.
Timetables
The timetables for all UK and International qualifications in October and November are on our Exam timetables web page.
R papers are not available for International GCSE qualifications in this series. The start times for International GCSE exams during this series must be scheduled according to the AM and PM timings for GCSE exams listed for your time zone. These timings can be found in the documents on our Exam timetables web page.
Preparing for disruption to exams
The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) has published updated guidance in relation to any disruption to exams this Autumn, this can be found on their website.
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 Tranfer web page.
GCSE Art and Design
- 1AD0_02
- 1FA0_02
- 1GC0_02
- 1PY0_02
- 1TD0_02
- 1TE0_02
A level Art and 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. You can find out more about coursework and NEA submission on our NEA web page.
ResultsPlus
ResultsPlus is an online results analysis tool that is included in your qualification entry fee that gives you a detailed breakdown of your students’ performance in Pearson Edexcel exams.
ResultsPlus provides detailed analysis of your learners' performance and will help you to identify potential topics, skills and types of questions where students may need to develop their learning further. Whilst there hasn’t been a typical examination series for a while, you may find it helpful to understand how your students’ performance compares with class and Pearson Edexcel national averages and to gather some insight data that may support effective teaching and learning approaches.
> Find out more about ResultsPlus.
Many centres will be focused on delivering mock exams this term and using those mock exam results to inform intervention and revision. The ResultsPlus Mock analysis service can help you get the most from that data. We will be running ResultsPlus Mock Analysis training sessions for customers later this term, look out for your invitation soon.
examWizard
In addition to ResultsPlus we also have our examWizard tool. This is also included as part of your qualification entry fee and is an online resource containing a huge bank of past paper questions and support materials to help you create your own mock exams and assessments. It is available for a range of GCSE, International GCSE, A level subjects, BTEC and Functional Skills.
> Find out more about examWizard.
There is a new teaching, Learning and assessment page for Vocational and Technical qualifications in 2021/22. You will find the latest information and support for our vocational qualifications on this web page, where you can also find news and updates, with links to our regular VQ Bulletin which contains all the key updates you need for our vocational qualifications. Please do bookmark this page for future reference.