June 2026 International Science Qualification News
Hello colleagues,
Welcome to your June update for teachers of International Science qualifications! This month we'd love to have your feedback on the May/June exam papers once your students have finished sitting them, so please complete our surveys. We also have news of equation sheets for International GCSE Physics, new onboarding guides and guidance on the use of bilingual dictionaries in exams.
As ever, don't hesitate to get in touch if I can help in any way - why not book a Teams call with me (follow the link below) if it would be helpful to talk something over?
Best wishes,
Tim Lawrence
Pearson Edexcel Subject Advisor for International Science Qualifications
| 13 August | Results day for June 2026 IAL series |
| 20 August | Results day for June 2026 IG series |
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 exams in the May/June 2026 series, we are 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.
Please take a few minutes to provide your feedback, thank you.
Ofqual, the UK's qualifications regulator, has recently published its decision to extend the provision of full equation sheets in UK GCSE Physics exams (including for Double Award / Combined Science) for the lifetime of these qualifications. We have been waiting for this final decision to confirm that the same provision will be provided for International GCSE Physics exams (including for Double Award and Single Award Science) in 2028 and beyond (the full equation sheet was already confirmed for exams in 2026 and 2027).
This means that candidates will not need to memorise physics equations for International GCSE exams, at least for the lifetime of the current specifications.
A new equation sheet is published each year but will keep the same format and will keep the same equations. You can download the 2025 equation sheets for use in mock exams from the pages below on the qualifications website.
For our linear International GCSE qualifications, past equation sheets can be downloaded from the 'teaching and learning materials' pages under 'Summer 2025 support' for example. For our modular International GCSEs, they are included in the 'exam materials' with the past papers and mark schemes - see the links below.
We have recently uploaded new free guides designed to support teachers who are switching to Pearson Edexcel International GCSE or IAL courses. These 'onboarding guides' are designed to ensure that you can easilty find the most important documents on our website, and access the various services and sources of support available as you prepare to deliver our courses.
For candidates whose first language is not English, and who use a bilingual translation dictionary as their normal way of working in lessons, the use of such a dictionary is allowed in our International GCSE and IAL science exams.
This is not true for all subjects - for example languages and those exams which assess spelling, punctuation and grammar (including English literature, geography and history). Dictionaries with diagrams or which provide definitions of words are also not allowed.
Full guidance on the use of bilingual dictionaries will shortly be published on the page below.
A number of training opportunities for International GCSE (IG) and IAL Biology teachers have recently been opened for booking - those in September are listed below along with in-person events coming up in Dhaka. 'Getting Ready To Teach' events are our free training aimed at teachers new to delivering our courses, or any who would like a refresher! The equivalent events for teachers of our Chemistry and Physics courses will be launched shortly.
View all International Science courses available and book your places.
| 3 August | Dhaka - IG Biology - Understanding Assessment and Improving Delivery |
| 4 August | Dhaka - IAL Biology - Understanding Assessment and Improving Delivery |
| 17 September | Online - IG Biology - Getting Ready To Teach |
| 21 September | Online - IG Biology (modular) - Getting Ready To Teach |
| 23 September | Online - IAL Biology - Getting Ready To Teach |
We also provide centre-based training opportunities. If this is something you would like to explore, please visit our training page below.
The questions below have been asked during training events recently, in our Facebook group or in emails to teachingscience@pearson.com:
For modular International GCSEs and IALs, candidates will see their UMS mark for each unit on their statement of results. UMS grade boundaries are fixed, but the conversion from raw mark to UMS is unique to each exam paper.
For International GCSEs, 90% of the UMS marks is the grade boundary for grade 9, 80% for grade 8 and so on.
For IALs, 80% of the UMS marks is the grade boundary for a grade A, 70% for a grade B and so on. A* grades are awarded for 90% of the UMS marks for the IA2 (Year 2) units, with 80% across all units.
Our 'converting marks, points and grades' page allows you to find how each raw mark translates to a UMS mark for a particular paper, from results day.
Find all grade boundaries on this page.
Yes, protractors are expected equipment for International GCSE Physics exams. A protractor is only listed as required equipment on the front of the paper if a question is set that they should or could be used for, which often isn't the case. However candidates should have them in the exam hall in case they are useful.
Although linear International GCSE papers do not technically have grade boundaries (because grade boundaries are set at 'qualification level' based on total marks across both papers) you can find 'notional component grade boundaries' on this page.
These are provided to aid teachers using past papers as mock exams.
Subject advisor
Irine Muhiuddin and Tim Lawrence
UK and International Science
