General Qualifications Bulletin - International - Issue 13

Over the past few weeks we, alongside the other Awarding Organisations, have been busy sampling the evidence submitted to support the teacher assessed grades. Where questions arose, or further evidence was required, we have been getting in touch as necessary.

In most instances we have already spoken with centres, but may still need to contact you up until Friday 16 July. However, if you have not heard from us at this stage it is unlikely that we will be in contact for any further evidence.

Please remember that all learner grades must be kept strictly confidential until results are published on results day.

Please be aware that if you submit any late entry or amendment requests after 15 July, you are at risk of not receiving results on results day. If you have any late amendments or entry requests, you should submit these before 15 July to eprocessing@pearson.com.

For any changes to personal details such as amendments to name or date of birth, please submit these via our customer portal as normal.

On 8 June Ofqual and the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) published their guidance for appeals in 2021. These are important documents that outline the processes that will be in place for this summer’s appeals process.   

Ofqual Statutory guidance: appeals under the GQAA regulatory framework (PDF, 0.3 MB) 

JCQ A guide to appeals processes Summer 2021 series (PDF, 0.7 MB) 

We will follow the same principles for Pearson’s International GCSEs and International AS/A Levels. The document below provides a summary of the appeals process for these international qualifications and also provides information on where the appeals process will differ from the arrangements detailed in the JCQ document.

International qualification appeals should be submitted using the Pearson Appeals Portal. This will be accessed by centres via Edexcel Online (EOL). Applications to appeal should be submitted with the relevant supporting evidence for the appeal. 

Appeals approach for International qualifications, summer 2021 (PDF, 0.1 MB)

To help international centres navigate the JCQ guidance and understand what you need prepare for before grade submission, after grade submission and for results day, as well as what you need to share with students, we have put together a visual guide that you can download. 

Preparing for appeals for International qualifications, summer 2021 (PDF, 0.1 MB)

Further information can be found on our Appeals summer 2021 web page, including information on the appeals process and guidance for our international qualifications. 

Please see the table below for results days in August 2021.
 

Entry Requirements and Key Dates

For GCSE, AS and A level examinations

Entry for the autumn 2021 exam series for GCSE, AS and A level examinations is restricted to students who have received a teacher-assessed grade in summer 2021 and to students who are able to demonstrate that they would have entered summer 2021 exams had they not been cancelled. We will give the benefit of doubt to private candidates, to address concerns that they might not be able to provide evidence of their intention to take exams in the summer had they taken place. In this situation the student should make a declaration to the entering centre to confirm that they would have entered in summer 2021 if exams had taken place. Centres should retain these declarations and make them available to the awarding organisation or the JCQ Centre Inspection Service if requested.

For International GCSE, International AS and International A level examinations

There will be no restrictions on entries for International GCSE, International AS and International A level examinations.

Please see the table below for the list of entry dates for the October/November 2021 series.

Timetables

The final timetables for all UK and International qualifications in October and November can now be found on our timetables web page.

The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) have also published their key dates document for the exceptional Autumn series. This can be found on their website. 

Centres should note that we, along with other awarding bodies, will only be offering AS Biology, Chemistry, Further Mathematics, Mathematics and Physics this autumn.

The timetable for the standard GCSE November series, GCSE English Language and Mathematics, was confirmed in December 2020 and will not be changing.


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 and international qualifications (GCSE, International GCSE, AS/A level, iPrimary an iLowerSecondary). This means that the fees for this series will remain the same as the fees published for summer 2021.


All this information can be found on our October/November 2021 exam series web page, which we will continue to update as further information becomes available.

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 website here as there have been some amendments made. The provisional timetables for the series are also available on our website here. We will update you to confirm any assessment arrangements and the fees for this series by the start of the next academic year.