General Qualifications Bulletin - UK - Issue 24
Dear Colleague
I hope the first few weeks back in your centres have been successful. It’s certainly been busy here at Pearson with the January examination series well under way across the world.
The subject support sessions we have been offering over the past few weeks have been well attended and there are still more to come, make sure you are signed up to hear the latest assessment information. I look forward to seeing some of you at our live sessions this week. Remember, there is no charge for the events as they are all part of your qualification fee.
With the 7 February on the horizon, please make sure you are familiar with the qualification pages as this is where the advance information will sit. I will of course write to you to let you know exactly when this is all released but there is already some helpful information on qualification pages about what to expect.
Lastly, I was very lucky to attend the Pearson National Teaching Awards last year and meet many of inspiring educational professionals. The awards were set up to recognise and celebrate excellence in education on a UK-wide basis. Run by the Teaching Awards Trust and supported by Pearson and the BBC, they are the UK’s most prestigious celebration of teaching and cover a wide range of categories. Nominations for this years awards are now open and more information can be found on the Pearson National Teaching Awards web page.
Kind regards
Hayley White
Assessment Director
Subject advisor Q&A sessions
This month your subject advisors have been running subject-specific, question and answer sessions on the June 2022 exam series for Pearson Edexcel qualifications. There are still some events running to the end of the month, so do take a look at the events still to run and book your place through the Pearson Professional Development Academy.
Book your Subject Advisor Q&A session
Summer 2022 assessment drop-in sessions
We’re also running a series of drop in webinars over the next few months that are designed to help schools and colleges understand what's being asked of them this year. We’ll cover how to prepare for high-stake exams alongside the contingency preparation and the tools we have available to help minimise the impact on teachers.
Participants are encouraged to ask questions during the sessions and upon sign up will also be able to submit questions in advance which we will cover in the event.
This training is not specific to Pearson Edexcel as the arrangements for summer 2022 are common across all awarding organisations. Arrangements for International GCSE will be specific to Pearson qualifications. You do not have to be teaching a Pearson qualification to attend.
For further information and to book your place on our forthcoming events please visit the Pearson Professional Development Academy.
Book your place on the next Summer 2022 Assessment drop-in session
31 January 2022 – Modified papers entry deadline
3 February 2022 – A level October/November series reviews of marking deadline
No later than 7 February 2022 – Advance Information released
17 February 2022 – GCSE English and Maths November series reviews of marking deadline
21 February 2022 – UK Qualifications entry deadline
21 March 2022 – International Qualifications entry deadline
31 March 2022 – All other GCSE and International GCSE November series reviews of marking deadline
More information about key dates for post results services can be found on our Post-results support pages.
21 February 2022 is the entry deadline for summer 2022 UK general qualifications.
21 March 2022 is the entry deadline for summer 2022 International GCSE qualifications.
Please ensure that all entries are made by this date to avoid incurring late fees.
Read full details on UK centre entry deadlines
Reminder: We have made changes to the way we invoice for your qualification entries. Invoices will be sent after the UK entry deadline and not on a weekly basis. This means that you may begin to receive invoices from the week commencing 21 February 2022.
The GCSE, AS and A level past papers from the exceptional October/November 2020 exam series have now been published and are available on the subject pages of our website.
Past papers from the October/November 2021 exam series continue to be available to teachers only, in line with usual practices. However, private candidates who are intending to enter for an examination in summer 2022 and who require the October/November 2021 exam materials to support their exam preparation can now request access to these materials, either from the centre that has accepted their entry or directly from Pearson by following the instructions on our Private candidates page.
Any centre providing October/November 2021 past papers and mark schemes to private candidates, should ask them to sign the declaration that is available on our web page.
UK-based private candidates who have entered, or intend to enter, for an International GCSE exam in summer 2022 can request additional past papers and mark schemes via our Private candidates page. You will need to inform your entering centre that you have accessed these materials, so that they can take this into account when setting contingency assessments.
Read the full information on our Private candidates page
We'd love to understand your experience of teaching or learning Maths and English at GCSE level. We are especially interested in the skills that are acquired during the GCSE course and any additional skills that you think would be useful if included.
Please take a few minutes to complete our questionnaire
Centres that have made entries for qualifications with visiting components will shortly be contacted by their visiting examiners. If you have not yet made entries for those qualifications, we urge you to do so as early as possible.
UK centres have a choice of assessment in 2022 of either a visiting examiner attending their centre, or digitally via recorded performances (submitted via the Learner Work Transfer (LWT) platform). International centres will not be offered this choice and all work will be assessed digitally.
Please make sure you have visited the relevant qualification pages and have read the corresponding guidance.
Drama
If you are a UK centre (with seven or more candidates for GCSE Drama or three or more candidates for A level Drama and Theatre) you will have the choice of being assessed either by a visiting examiner or recording and submitting your performances via LWT. Centres with less than the above number of entries will not be allocated a visiting examiner and will have their work examined digitally.
You can find out more about the 2022 process for Component 2 below for:
Art and Design
Candidates will complete only Component 1, GCSE - Personal Portfolio, A Level - Personal Investigation, which will account for 100% of the qualification in Summer 2022 exam series. Component 2 has been removed from qualification assessment and the Externally Set Assignment will not be released in January (GCSE) and February (A Level) 2022.
- Candidate submissions will be internally marked by teacher-assessors and externally moderated by Pearson.
- Visiting moderation will be offered in Summer 2022 for all UK centres.
- Learner Work Transfer online submission platform will also be available for centres to upload the photographic evidence and/or digital portfolios if centre visits cannot take place for moderation purposes.
- We will provide guidance on the digital submission process on our website. It is advised that candidates document photographic evidence and/or create digital portfolios as their artwork is being developed.
- Moderators will start contacting their allocated UK centres to arrange visit dates after mid-April 2022.
- Digital submission deadline is 31st May 2022.
Download the GCSE and A level summary of assessment changes for summer 2022 below.
GCSE Art and Design summary of assessment changes summer 2022
A level Art and Design summary of assessment changes summer 2022
We have also updated our Art and Design subject pages with Summer 2022 exam support materials, available for:
Physical Education
A full summary of assessment changes for summer 2022 and additional support and guidance is available on our website for GCSE and A Level Physical Education.
GCSE Physical Education summer 2022 support
A level Physical Education summer 2022 support
In addition to video remote moderation option, a live centre visit will be offered for all UK centres regardless of their cohort size. Due to ongoing travelling issues, international centres are required to submit their recorded performances digitally on the LWT platform.
Visiting moderators will start contacting their allocated centres to commence the moderation process in mid-February 2022.
Moderation window will be between 1 March and 5 May. Centres are reminded that their marks for each learner must be submitted 15 days prior to moderation day to allow for sufficient time for samples to be agreed and arranged.
We acknowledge it has been difficult for learners to demonstrate competitive situations in some sports and may continue to be in some instances. For summer 2022 we are willing to accept alternative forms of evidence to help support assessments.
Our team of subject advisors send out regular important updates about their specific subject areas.
The updates contain important information about assessments, support, events, resources and other key areas of information.
Sign up for your subject advisor updates now
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.
You will also find advance information guidance for relevant UK and International qualifications that we released in December. These guidance documents outline the approach that will be taken to the advance information that will be released by 7 February.
Read our frequently asked questions that give you more detail about the adaptations
We’ve also created an interactive document that has all the key links that are currently available. This will be kept up to date as and when new information is released. We recommend you sharing this with your colleagues.
Download the key support document now
Modified papers for learners that require them for the May/June 2022 series can be ordered via the Access Arrangements Online (AAO) and Pearson Access Arrangements Online (PAAO). The deadline for ordering modified papers for the summer series is 31 January 2022.
There is a new FAQ hub and a new Teaching, Learning and assessment page for Vocational and Technical qualifications in 2021/22.
Read vocational and technical qualifications 2021-2022 FAQs
Take a look at the Teaching, learning and assessment 2021-2022 page
You will find the latest information and support for our vocational qualifications on this page, along with links to our regular VQ Bulletin containing all the key updates you need for our vocational qualifications. Please do bookmark this page for future reference.
