September 2025 Teaching Science update
Hello colleagues,
I hope you have had a good Summer break. In this September update is for teachers delivering Pearson Edexcel Science qualifications where you'll find news and information to support your teaching. I hope you find it useful.
Best wishes,
Irine Muhiuddin
Science Subject Advisor
UK and International GCSE and A level Science Facebook groups
As the new academic year commences, you may want to think about connecting with other teachers as well as receiving news about Pearson Science qualifications. You can request to join the groups from the links below.
Visit our Facebook group for teachers of UK Science courses
Visit our Facebook group for teachers of International Science courses
You can also follow Pearson via our social media channels - see links below.
Following on from August results days, you can find information that you may still need to refer to in my Summer 2025 results support update.
Exam feedback: Thank you to all the teachers who have already completed our feedback surveys on the Summer 2025 exam series. If you haven't yet done so, the surveys are still open and we would love to hear your views. 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 this survey.
| 25 September 2025 | Reviews of Marking and Moderation deadline |
| 12 December 2025 | Access to Scripts deadline |
Timetables can be viewed on the website.
Dates of GCSE Science Summer 2025 Exam Insight training events
- GCSE Combined Science Biology: 01 October 2025 at 16:00 - 17:30 GMT
- GCSE Combined Science Chemistry: 06 October 2025 at 16:00 - 17:30 GMT
- GCSE Combined Science Physics: 08 October 2025 at 16:00 - 17:30 GMT
- GCSE Chemistry: 09 October 2025 at 16:00 - 17:00 GMT
- GCSE Physics: 13 October 2025 at 16:00 - 17:00 GMT
- GCSE Biology: 14 October 2025 at 16:00 - 17:00 GMT
These training events are for teachers of Pearson Edexcel GCSE Sciences and provide feedback and insights on the summer 2025 exam series.
The sessions identify key observations related to candidate performance highlighted in the examiner report and provides strategies to help with your planning for the year ahead.
You will:
- look at candidate performance from the summer 2025 exam series
- review key observations and trends identified in the examiner reports
- explore these key observations in more detail using annotated exemplars
- discover teaching and learning strategies to address challenges identified.
Please note: A recording of the event will be accessible exclusively to attendees within three days following the event. Subsequently, the recording will be added to the past training content area of the qualification website, secured behind a padlock, later in the term.
Dates of A level Science Summer 2025 Exam Insight training events
- A Level Physics: Exam Insights: 07 October 2025 at 16:00 - 17:00 GMT
- A Level Chemistry: Exam Insights 16 October 2025 at 16:00 - 17:00 GMT
- A Level Biology B Exam Insights 16 October 2025 at 16:00 - 17:00 GMT
- A Level Biology A: Exam Insights 21 October 2025 at 16:00 - 17:00 GMT
These training events are for teachers of Pearson Edexcel A Level Sciences and provide feedback and insights on the summer 2025 exam series. The sessions identify key observations related to candidate performance highlighted in the examiner report and provide strategies to help with your planning for the year ahead.
You will:
- look at candidate performance from the summer 2025 exam series
- review key observations and trends identified in the examiner reports
- explore these key observations in more detail using annotated exemplars
- discover teaching and learning strategies to address challenges identified.
Please note: A recording of the event will be accessible exclusively to attendees. Subsequently, the recording will be added to the past training content area of the qualification website, secured behind a padlock, later in the term.
7 and 15 October 2025 at 16:00 - 17:00 GMT.
To help you prepare to deliver the new AAQ BTEC National (2025) in Applied Science qualification this Autumn we will be hosting a Getting Started event.
The events are aimed at UK based teachers and the live sessions will meet the following objectives:
- Centres can confidently plan the delivery of the new qualifications at Level 3, based on their and their learners' needs.
- Centres have a clear view on the underpinning knowledge required to deliver the units.
- Centres identify how to use internal assessment support materials to inform teaching and learning and understand the standard.
The training will provide a general run-through of internal and external assessment. These areas will be covered in greater detail in our BTEC National (2025) ‘Getting Ready to Assess Internal Units’ and ‘Preparing Your Learners for External Assessment’ events.
You can register for the events from the training page or the events page.
There will be more events taking place in November.
20 October 2025 at 15:30 - 17:00 GMT
Get ready for internal assessment in BTEC National (AAQ) in Applied Science (2025) by registering for events this Autumn. These events are suitable for centres in England and will cover a minimum of one mandatory unit plus another unit where applicable. Delegates will:
- Review the QA process for the BTEC National Level 3 qualifications
- Explore the assessment criteria and requirements for internal assessment.
- Look at some examples of assessment materials.
- Address common issues and frequently asked questions.
More events will also take place in November.
Dates: Sept 11, Oct 7 & Nov 24. Events will take place 4-5pm.
This session is an excellent CPD opportunity aimed at new and experienced Lead
Internal Verifiers (LIVs). The session will take you through the key roles and responsibilities over the academic year with reference to the BTEC Entry/Level 1 to Level 3 annual quality assurance model. The event will cover team standardisation, the importance of assessment planning, internal verification planning, resubmissions and retakes and standards verification. It will also cover the quality assurance monitoring responsibilities as a Lead IV.
You can register from the quality assurance events and support page below and also view other training available.
We provide centre-based training opportunities. If this is something you would like to explore, please visit our training page below.
On our Professional Development Academy training page you can watch pre-recorded events, such as 'New to Edexcel'. You can also book onto training and look out for new events.
We are pleased to announce a new set of Maths in Science papers featuring questions sourced from the 2024 GCSE Combined Science papers. You can access these papers, along with other valuable maths support resources, in the 'Maths Support' section of the GCSE Science qualification page.
On our qualification pages you can access past training content, which is particularly useful if you could not attend an event. This includes recent events we hosted last year which included an event on Maths/Statistics for A Level Biology and a network event on supporting lower attainers. Links to the 'Past Training Content' section of the A level qualification pages are provided below.
On our general qualifications assessment support page, you can find news, information and updates from Ofqual, the DfE, JCQ and Pearson relating to exams and assessments for our GCSE, AS and A level qualifications.
We have recently updated the Unit 4 Pearson Set Assignment Brief (PSAB). A summary of the changes is provided in the table below.
| Section of the PSAB | Addition/Clarification |
General Equipment List |
List has been expanded to include voltmeter, ammeter, multimeter, ohmmeter, solar cell/module (3-5V), solar electric motor |
Conditions of assessment |
Further clarification of supervision requirements has been provided |
Task 2 |
Option for alternative solution in colorimetry, not limited to starch solution |
Task 3a |
Clarification of methodology. Changes to temperature intervals, tangent point requirements, and clarification around calculations required.
Changes to cooling curve requirements, introduction of ratio rate of cooling. |
Task 3b |
Two methods have been provided for measuring resistivity for added clarification.
Clarification of graph requirements. |
Task 3c |
Clarification of practical requirements, and separation of practical components.
Clarification of minimum voltage for motor practical. |
The other PSABs have also undergone some minor formatting adjustments but no content changes. You can refer to the updated PSABs on the qualification webpage.
Teaching support materials are available to support you with delivering the new AAQ BTEC National in Applied Science for first teaching from September 2025. They can be found on the science qualification page. Links to them are also provided below.
Centre standardisation materials are also available on the qualification page.
We also have a BTEC Nationals AAQ centre guide that you can refer to.
Published resources to support the new BTEC National AAQs are also available. You can find the links below. Please note that there is no compulsory requirement to purchase or use Pearson's paid resources.
We have available informal online Quality Assurance Catch-ups where you can get a quick reminder of where you and your staff should be in the quality assurance calendar. You can register via links provided in the document below.
A community group is available that covers everything Quality Assurance related for all our vocational and technical qualifications. It's run by Pearson's team of Vocational Quality Assurance Managers and is a quick and easy way to ask questions directly or collaborate with your colleagues in centres.
We have a BTEC Teaching, Learning and Assessment for page which will contain the most up-to-date information and key dates on vocational assessment for this academic year.
A new 180 GLH qualification in Applied Science and some other sectors are pending approval. Regulatory approval and funding confirmation is anticipated this month.
Once approved, these qualifications will be available for first teaching from September 2026.
In December the DfE published the outcome of their review of post-16 qualification reform. The aim of the review was to determine which qualifications will be funded for 16-19 learners in England for the 2025/26 academic year. You can read about BTEC reform news via our dedicated webpage.
Our BTEC level 3 funding guide provides details of funding arrangements for all level 3 BTECs:
You can keep up-to-date on BTEC L2 reform news from the web page below.
We send out regular Vocational Qualification Bulletins to keep centres informed of our support and services. You can sign-up for these and read previous bulletins on our website.
Sign-up to receive regular vocational qualification bulletins
Pearson general qualifications bulletins are sent regularly providing you with key information and updates on our qualifications and assessments for both UK and International centres. You can sign-up to receive these from the link below.
Subject advisor
Irine Muhiuddin and Tim Lawrence
UK and International Science
