March 2026 International Science Qualification News
Hello colleagues,
Welcome to your March update for teachers of International Science qualifications! Along with key dates and FAQs we have examiner vacancies and news of a new Lab Setup Guide as well as mapping documents for IAL sciences, examWizard news (with practical past paper questions available now for IAL Biology), the recording of our recent STEM university applications webinar and provisional timetables for the June 2027 exam series.
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
| 5 March | Results day for January 2026 IAL series |
| 20 March | Deadline for feedback on June 2027 provisional exam timetables |
| 21 March | Entry deadline for June 2026 IAL / IG exams for international centres |
| 13 August | Results day for June 2026 IAL series |
| 20 August | Results day for June 2026 IG series |
The Provisional timetables for Summer 2027 are available now via the link below. The feedback window in which we invite teachers to raise any issues with these provisional dates will run until Friday 20th March.
Please send any feedback to timetables@pearson.com
In addition to the 'Mastering Marking in International GCSE Chemistry' live online training coming up on 24 March we have a range of face-to-face events running in March and April in the following regions:
- Gudangdong, Chongqing, Hangzhou and Hong Kong, China
- Bangkok, Thailand
- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- Riyadh, Saudi Arabia,
- Colombo, Sri Lanka
- Dubai, UAE
View all International Science courses available and book your places.
Upcoming online training:
| Date | Course |
24 March |
Mastering Marking in International GCSE Chemistry |
Becoming an Assessment Associate (or examiner) is a great professional development for teachers. The process gives teachers insight into what exam questions are looking for, and common errors, and greatly helps them to prepare their students for future papers.
Use the link below to search for vacancies. I recommend using the search terms 'examiner', 'international' and the subject e.g. 'biology'.
Our free examWizard tool allows teachers with Edexcel Online logins to quickly download past papers and mark schemes, and to search a database of past questions by specification point and skills assessed to construct assessments and sets of practice questions using the 'Build a Paper' tool.
Unit 3 and 6 practical skiils past papers have not until now been available, but there are now six of each uploaded for IAL Biology, and these can be searched by skills assessed using 'Build a Paper'. These papers will be added for IAL Chemistry and Physics later this year and we will confirm when in a future update.
We have produced a guide for science teachers and technicians to assist you in laboratory setup for delivering International GCSE and International A Level Science courses - download here or find it under 'teaching and learning materials' on each qualification's web page!
We have recently uploaded mapping documents for IAL Biology, Chemistry and Physics. These are designed to support teachers who are switching from other Awarding Organisations (exam boards), and show how Edexcel IAL specification points relate to those for CIE and OxfordAQA International A Levels, and to those for the AQA UK A Level.
We have recently uploaded a set of exemplar questions and responses to help teachers and students understand what each of the command words used in International GCSE Physics exams is looking for. This applies to both linear and modular exams, and to both versions of Double Award Science.
In January we hald a webinar with James Riley, International Student Recruitment Officer at the University of Oxford, and Kate Andrina, International Student Recruitment Assistant at the University of Oxford, to discuss support for students applying to the most competitive global universities for STEM subjects.
James and Kate confirmed key messages we have previously shared, having consulted with a range of UK universities:
Oxford, Cambridge, UCL, and Imperial have confirmed that their practical endorsement requirement only applies to UK A Level applicants. They’ve also made it clear that:
- They don’t favour one awarding body (exam board) over another
- They accept Edexcel IALs with their written practical skills assessment
- They welcome both UK and International A Level qualifications equally
If you missed the webinar, you can watch the recording of it below.
The questions below have been asked during training events recently, in our Facebook group or in emails to teachingscience@pearson.com:
In assessment, 'synoptic' means that candidates are required to apply knowledge, skills and understanding from across different units of study, and this is a feature of the second-year IA2 units (units 4, 5 and 6 for Edexcel International A Levels).
In each subject's specification, the 'content and assessment overview' briefly outlines what is assessed in each unit's exam, including synoptic elements.
For all three subjects the overview for unit 4 states that "this paper may contain some synoptic questions which require knowledge and understanding from units 1 and 2." and this same statement appears for IAL Biology for unit 5. For IAL Chemistry and Physics unit 5's statement is " This paper may contain some synoptic questions which require knowledge and understanding from Units 1, 2 and 4." Candidates should therefore revise content from the relevant earlier units before their unit 4 and 5 exams.
The IA2 practical exam, unit 6, is also synoptic in IAL Biology and to some extent in Chemistry. For Biology the overview states "This unit will assess students’ knowledge and understanding of the experimental procedures and techniques that were developed in units 1, 2, 4 and 5." For IAL Chemistry and Physics this statement reads "This unit will assess students’ knowledge and understanding of the experimental procedures and techniques that were developed in Units 4 and 5.", however for Chemistry candidates should revise tests for ions, gases and organic functional groups from the IAS units.
To answer briefly, bullet points are not recommended, particluarly when it comes to extended response questions, as they encourage responses that are too 'list like'. If bullets are used to separate full sentences, and these are well linked so that they could have been presented as a continuous prose paragraph, then this is no problem and may help a student to structure their answer. However our standard advice is to answer longer questions as a continuous paragraph.
For our modular International GCSEs and International A Levels there are no restrictions on when, or how often, candidates can re-take a unit. They can re-sit units to improve their grade in any exam series that the exams are available in, there is no limit to how many times they can sit a unit, and no time limit other than the availability of the qualification (soon after a specification is replaced by a new course the exams for the 'old' course will cease).
However candidates and teachers should be aware that when a final grade is 'cashed-in' the best mark for each unit from the most recent two attempts will be used. This means that if a candidate re-sits and scores lower than their first attempt they should think carefully before re-sitting again - if they do so and score lower than their original attempt again they will 'lose' that mark.
For linear International GCSEs the rules are different. Both exams (or all three for Double Award Science) must be taken together in the same series, and a new grade will be awarded based on these only - the best marks from different series cannot be selected.
Subject advisor
Irine Muhiuddin and Tim Lawrence
UK and International Science
