General Qualifications Bulletin - UK - Issue - 63
Dear Colleague,
Welcome to the November qualifications bulletin.
This month I’m delighted to introduce our new Religious Studies and Citizenship Subject Advisor, Jenna Wyatt. Jenna’s role is to support centres in providing the best Religious Studies and Citizenship experience for their students and to represent the teacher and student voice. You can find out more about Jenna and how to sign up for her newsletter below.
I do hope the November exam season has gone well for your students. We’d love to hear your feedback on the GCSE English and maths, and the International GCSE exam papers. You can read more and submit your feedback via our survey links below.
We’re continuing our research into the use of modified exam papers, and I’m pleased to say we have further inspiring case studies for you to read. It’s incredibly important for us to ensure we support all learners and enable them to access exam materials in the way that suits their many diverse needs.
After the successful launch in October of our Art and Design Facebook group, run by our Subject Advisor, Jaclyn Wiid, I’m now pleased to share that this month we have launched our new Religious Studies Facebook group. Run by our Subject Advisor, Jenna Wyatt, this group has been specifically created to support teachers of Religious Studies. Find out more below and follow us on our Pearson Edexcel Facebook page.
As ever, if you need any more information or want to share any feedback with us, you can always get in touch via our support portal. We will always do our best to get you the answers as quickly as possible.
With best wishes,
Hayley White
Vice President, Assessment, Standards and Services
On our General qualifications assessment support page we provide updates and information from Ofqual, the Department for Education (DfE), the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) and Pearson, relating to the exams and assessments for our GCSE, AS and A level qualifications.
From announcements and news, to support materials and updates, we’ll make sure you have all the information and tools you need to teach our qualifications, help your students with their assessments and post-results support, to enable them to progress.
Ofqual update
The Department for Education confirmed on 3 October that students will not need to memorise formulae and equations for GCSE maths, physics and combined science for summer 2025, 2026 and 2027. This includes the GCSE maths November resit in each of those years.
The Ofqual consultation on the proposal has now concluded and Ofqual have confirmed that students taking GCSE maths, physics and combined science exams in 2025, 2026 and 2027 will be provided with formulae and revised equation sheets.
Further information and support for 2024/25 can be found on our General qualifications assessment support page.
We hope the November GCSE English and maths exam season went well for you and your students. Now that the exams are over, we would like you to share your feedback on the November papers.
We wish to provide students with the best possible exam experience, and your insights are crucial in helping us achieve this goal. If you're a teacher whose students have taken any of our GCSE English or maths or are still taking our International GCSE exams this November, we’re eager to hear your thoughts.
Your feedback will play a vital role in shaping the future of our qualifications and assessments. Your input will be shared with our senior examiners and across our subject teams to help us continuously improve future assessments and enhance the exam experience for students.
We really appreciate your participation in this process, thank you. Please take a few minutes to complete the surveys.
We’re thrilled to introduce Jenna Wyatt as your new Religious Studies and Citizenship subject advisor.
Jenna’s role is to support centres in providing the best Religious Studies and Citizenship experience for their students and to represent the teacher and student voice.
Prior to joining Pearson, Jenna worked in mixed state secondary schools delivering Religious Studies at Key Stage 3, 4 and 5, as well as teaching and leading on Citizenship. In that time, she mentored ECTs, delivered CPD across schools and worked as an examiner. This diverse range of roles has helped her understand the needs of teachers and I look forward to working with you to support the delivery of these qualifications.
Jenna is looking forward to sharing resources, ideas and working with teachers to support students across all our Religious Studies and Citizenship qualifications.
Sign up to receive Jenna’s Subject Advisor updates
You can also book an appointment with Jenna to discuss any queries you may have about our Religious Studies and Citizenship qualifications.
Have you followed us on our new Pearson Edexcel Facebook page yet?
Designed to help and support you with the teaching and delivery of our UK and International qualifications, we’ll be sharing the latest news, updates and information about our support services across subjects. From our own news to updates from Ofqual and JCQ, follow us on @PearsonEdexcel on Facebook to stay up to date.
Follow us @PearsonEdexcel on Facebook
Join our new Facebook Groups
Art and Design
Last month we launched a new teacher group for those teaching our GCSE, International GCSE and A level Art and Design qualifications. Created to give Art and Design teachers a private, professional space to discuss teaching and learning ideas and ask general questions, the community is run by your Art and Design Subject Advisor, Jaclyn Wiid.
To join the group - facebook.com/groups/edexcelart
Religious Studies
This November we’re delighted to bring you our new teacher group for Religious Studies. If you’re teaching Pearson Edexcel GCSE, International GCSE, ELC or A level Religious Studies, check out our new teacher group. Created to give you a private, professional space to discuss teaching and learning ideas, ask general questions and connect with other Pearson Edexcel RS teachers. The community is run by your Religious Studies Subject Advisor, Jenna Wyatt.
We understand each learner is unique and we’re committed to supporting all learners and enabling them to access exam materials in the way that suits many diverse needs.
Working in collaboration with NASEN (National Association for Special Educational Needs), we carried out research between 2022 and 2024 about modified GCSE exam papers. We’ve been talking to students with additional access requirements to find out their experience to gain a better understanding of how they use modified papers so we can make further improvements to future modified papers.
Our aim is to support all learners, to help them achieve their best in exams, and to ensure every learner’s educational journey is as inclusive and accessible as possible. Real-life stories like those of Katherine, Arthur, Lina and the students from the Harris Federation inspire us to create a more inclusive, accessible and empowering educational environment.
Read these inspiring case studies for yourself
You can also get in touch at additional_requirements@pearson.com to discuss any special requirements that your students may have.
Please note student names have been changed to maintain confidentiality.
With 16 categories covering team and individual awards, this is the perfect opportunity to recognise the remarkable educators working in your community.
Why Enter?
- Celebrate your community: give your school community a reason to come together and celebrate.
- Boost your school’s reputation: gain recognition and open doors to exciting new opportunities.
- National exposure: winners are showcased in regional press stories, national TV, and prestigious awards ceremonies.
Last month we launched our enhanced Qualifications Customer Support Portal, and we’ve had some great feedback from customers using the new portal.
Designed to make getting help quicker and easier than ever and created with our customers in mind, new or enhanced features include:
- A new streamlined contact-us journey enables you to connect quickly with our support teams in the way that suits you; via live-chat for real-time assistance, our new webform, as well as traditional phone or email routes.
- Using your Pearson Portal (Edexcel Online) credentials to access secure personalised support even faster, and view your existing cases.
- Our comprehensive support article library has also been restructured with sections specific to teachers, exams officers and quality nominees, as well as stronger search functions, to resolve your own queries quickly and easily.
Read our getting started support article here: Customer Support Portal: Getting Started, and remember to bookmark the portal in Chrome, Edge, Safari or other web browser for quick access.
Take a look at EO Support: New Academic Year Essential Information covering important topics, including:
- Deadlines and support for post-results services and appeals
- November exam series
- Timetables and JCQ guidance
- Entry key dates and guidance
- And much more!
Cyber Security
Whether you’re a new or experienced Edexcel Online user its important that everyone is aware of the possible threats to our collective data. We would encourage all exams staff, new and old to visit our cyber security webpage and watch our short training video.
Visit our Cyber Security webpage
Ofqual has also published a press release reminding schools and colleges of the importance of cyber security, please do take a look.
Science and Maths
The DfE has confirmed that students will not need to memorise formulae and equations for GCSE maths, physics and combined science for summer 2025, 2026 and 2027. This includes the GCSE maths November resit in each of those years.
The Ofqual consultation on the proposal has now concluded and Ofqual have confirmed that students taking GCSE maths, physics and combined science exams in 2025, 2026 and 2027 will be provided with formulae and revised equation sheets.
For reference the formulae and equation sheets used in 2024 are provided below.
GCSE Maths Foundation Tier formulae sheet
GCSE Maths Higher Tier formulae sheet
GCSE Physics and Combined Science equation sheet
International GCSE Sciences
For our International GCSE physics, science double and science single awards (physics papers) we will follow the same approach as for UK GCSE physics and combined science qualifications and will send out further communications soon. For reference, the equation sheets used in 2024 are provided below.
International GCSE Sciences equation sheet
International GCSE Science (Single Award) equation sheet
Subject Advisor support
Stay up to date with all your subject news by signing up to receive your Subject Advisor newsletters. Experts in their fields, and many of them former teachers, our subject advisors are here to support you throughout the year and can help with all your subject-specific queries.
Our Key Dates Finder enables you to find all of the key dates for Pearson general qualifications and subjects in one place. Here are those taking place during September and early in the Autumn term.
Date |
Qualification |
Exam |
Description |
|---|---|---|---|
13 Nov 24 |
GCSE English Language and Maths |
Nov 24 |
Date of final examination on common timetable |
16 Nov 24 |
Edexcel Award and Project |
Jan 25 |
High late entry fees will be charged from this date |
16 Nov 24 |
Edexcel Award and Project |
Jan 25 |
Amendment fees will be charged from this date |
20 Nov 24 |
GCSE English Language and Maths |
Nov 24 |
Final date for submitting special consideration requests to awarding bodies |
21 Nov 24 |
All general qualifications |
Jun 25 |
Basedata issued |
22 Nov 24 |
International GCSE |
Nov 24 |
Deadline to submit special consideration requests |
1 Dec 24 |
GCE A level English 9EN0/03 |
Jun 25 |
Sub-topic pre-release issued on our website |
6 Jan 25 |
GCE A level Drama 9DR0 & GCSE Drama 1DR0 02 |
Jun 25 |
Start of practical examination period |
8 Jan 25 |
GCSE English Language and Maths |
Nov 24 |
Restricted release of results to centres |
9 Jan 25 |
GCSE English Language and Maths |
Nov 24 |
Release of results to candidates |
For more information on key dates for post results services please visit our Post-results services key dates web page.
Multi-factor authentication was successfully rolled out to nearly a quarter of a million Pearson Portal users last year. Although it has now become a standard way of accessing our systems, that we should all be familiar with, it can sometimes present challenges if a smart device is lost or replaced.
You can read more information, see a quick start guide and access FAQs and troubleshooting for our authenticator app in our Pearson Portal Authenticator support article.
