Welcome to the March 2025 update from your Subject Advisor
This update provides various resources to support teachers, such as our Art and Design Facebook group, online training events, support for line managers, key dates, exemplar galleries, and more.
For updates on the qualification(s) you deliver, please click on the relevant sections below.
Join our 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.
This group is great space to connect and hear about new resources and updates.
The recordings from our free online events to look at various aspects of teaching and learning in Art and Design to support your planning and delivery.
In this live network event held on 24 September 2024, a member of our senior examining team discussed the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Pearson Edexcel Art and Design qualifications.
The session explored both acceptable and inappropriate uses of AI in student portfolios, providing further explanation and visual evidence to compliment the written guidance released by Pearson.
In this live network event held on 5 December 2024 run by our credible specialist for Textile Design, teachers explored a range of practical teaching and learning strategies for fostering creativity and originality in the endorsed title of Textile Design.
This training would be beneficial to all but will be particularly well suited to teachers new to delivering Textile Design through the Art and Design specification.
In this live network event held on 5 February 2025 run by our credible specialist for 3D Design, teachers explored practical teaching and learning strategies for promoting a creative and personal design process in the endorsed title of 3D Design.
The training would be beneficial to all but will be particularly well suited to teachers new to delivering 3D Design through the Art and Design specification.
As the assessment and moderation deadlines draw nearer, this guide supports line managers and non-specialists with the nuances of GCSE and A Level Art and Design courses to encourage best outcomes for learners.
Here are some helpful resources and inspiration from creative organisations to emphasise the importance of arts in education and the benefits they bring to young people. Our priority is to create courses that provide students with an authentic creative experience, and we are committed to raising the profile of our subjects in education and beyond.
Do you know a young person who loves art and enjoys writing?
Take part in Write on Art, the national writing programme by Art UK and Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art for young people (14–19 years old).
Young people are invited to write 400–600 words about an artwork of their choice on Art UK’s website for one of three categories:
✍️ Creative writing – an imaginative and expressive response to an artwork
💬 Review – a critical commentary about an artwork or installation
📝 Essay – a critical analysis of an artwork supported by evidence
Twelve successful applicants will be invited to attend a day-long Young Art Writers Workshop at Royal College of Art in September 2025 and have their work published.
The Educational Recording Agency (ERA) Licence provides seamless access to television and radio recordings, offering a single point of clearance for the rights needed to create and use authentic media resources in your classroom. With ERA’s free video streaming platform, licensed institutions can explore a rich library of curriculum-mapped TV and radio clips tailored to GCSE and A-level teaching.
To access this free resource registration is required - but is quick and simple. State schools in England are licensed under a central agreement with the DfE and the vast majority of independent schools also hold a current ERA Licence.
Celebrate March with these must-see exhibitions, from historic paintings to contemporary photography.
Did you know that March was once considered to be the start of the year? In the first Roman calendar, there were only 10 months. January and February weren't even included because of the lack of agricultural activity, making them unworthy of being accounted for in the calendar.
Now that we're moving into the sunnier spring season in the Northern Hemisphere, the start of March offers another opportunity for renewal, with brighter skies and longer days on the horizon as the first leaves emerge and flowers begin to bloom.
The Arts and Minds campaign and coalition is calling for all children and young people to have the right to study creative subjects and for arts funding in schools to be fully restored.
Arts and Minds is a coalition of over 20 organisations including the National Education Union, Equity, the Musicians’ Union and NSEAD, which aims to draw attention to the ‘creative gap’ in schools and are calling for the government to put creativity at the heart of learning.
| Date | GCSE Art and Design |
|---|---|
| 15 May 2025 | Start of moderator visits |
| 48 hours prior to moderation visit |
Marks submitted on Edexcel Online for visiting moderation |
| 31 May 2025 | International centres only: Marks submitted on Edexcel Online for digital moderation Sampled work submitted on Learner Work Transfer |
| 27 June 2025 | End of moderator visits |
| 21 August 2025 | Results day |
We have a range of resources available to support your delivery of the Component 2 Externally Set Assignment (ESA).
Art UK have a new learning resource for GCSE Art & Design students to support with Component 2. They have pulled together some artworks and ideas to help students with inspiration for their projects.
You can view their Curations of artworks relevant our GCSE Art and Design themes as well as create your own!
If you were unable to attend our live training events this year or you just want a refresher, check out our on demand recorded training for GCSE Art and Design.
We recently added exemplars from our live coursework marking training to our Exemplar Gallery, a gallery view of our student exemplars organised by performance level and component.
Designed with teachers and access in mind, it is a great way to assess and standardise internally.
Use these exemplars alongside the Taxonomy, which gives descriptors for each performance level, and the Assessment Grid to accurately assess learner work.
We have also released an editable version of the Assessment Grid which can be completed electronically and printed for visiting moderation / uploaded for international centres' digital moderation.
| Date | International GCSE Art and Design |
|---|---|
| 21 March 2025 | Deadline for entries (late entry fees after this date) |
| 31 May 2025 | All work submitted digitally on Learner Work Transfer for external assessment |
| 21 August 2025 | Results day |
We have a range of resources available to support your delivery of the Component 2 Externally Set Assignment (ESA).
If you were unable to attend our live training events this year or you just want a refresher, check out our on demand recorded training for International GCSE Art and Design.
We recently standardised new exemplars which are currently being produced into packs that will be uploaded to our Exemplar Gallery soon, so watch this space!
The Exemplar Gallery is a gallery view of our student exemplars organised by performance level and component. Designed with teachers and access in mind, it is a great way to assess and standardise internally.
Please note, this qualification is 100% externally assessed and has no requirement for internal assessment. However, if a centre chooses to conduct formative assessment, it is important that the assessment objectives are assessed equally in an integrated and holistic way using these exemplars alongside the assessment grid and taxonomy.
| Date | A Level Art and Design |
|---|---|
| 15 May 2025 | Start of moderator visits |
| 48 hours prior to moderation visit |
Marks submitted on Edexcel Online for visiting moderation |
| 31 May 2025 | International centres only: Marks submitted on Edexcel Online for digital moderation Sampled work submitted on Learner Work Transfer |
| 27 June 2025 | End of moderator visits |
| 14 August 2025 | Results day |
We have a range of resources available to support your delivery of the Component 2 Externally Set Assignment (ESA).
Art UK have a new learning resource for A Level Art & Design students to support with Component 2. They have pulled together some artworks and ideas to help students with inspiration for their projects.
You can view their Curations of artworks relevant our A Level Art and Design theme as well as create your own!
If you were unable to attend our live training events this year or you just want a refresher, check out our on demand recorded training for A Level Art and Design.
We recently added exemplars from our live coursework marking training to our Exemplar Gallery, a gallery view of our student exemplars organised by performance level and component. Designed with teachers and access in mind, it is a great way to assess and standardise internally.
We also have voiceovers available for some performance level 6 (exceptional) portfolios.
Use these exemplars alongside the Performance Calculators, which give descriptors for each performance level, and the Assessment Grid to accurately assess learner work.
We have also released an editable version of the Assessment Grid which can be completed electronically and printed for visiting moderation / uploaded for international centres' digital moderation.
| Date | A Level History of Art |
|---|---|
| 19 May 2025 | Paper 1: Visual analysis and themes (PM) |
| 2 June 2025 | Paper 2: Periods (AM) |
| 14 August 2025 | Results day |
The Provisional timetables for Summer 2026 are available on our Provisional timetables web page for review.
The feedback window will run until Friday 21 March 2025. Please send any feedback to timetables@pearson.com
In this live event held on 22 January 2025, delegates explored how to approach Section A of Paper 1, Visual Analysis, discussing effective responses and common mistakes using candidate responses from the most recent exam series.
Art UK is the online home for every public art collection in the United Kingdom. They are an art education charity who aim to democratise access to art. Their free website brings together art from over 3,400 British institutions, showing over 300,000 works by over 50,000 artists and growing all the time.
Art History Link-Up provide free art history courses to under-represented students, providing life-changing opportunities for those who study with us while transforming the future of the arts in the UK.
The Association for Art History leads a collective effort in the UK to advance the study and practice of art history. Through programmes, publications and resources, they connect those interested in and engaged with art history, aid scholarly research and develop professional practice.
These lists are designed to suggest a range of sources to inspire students. They are not exhaustive and the 2017 lists still remain valid.
View the question papers and mark schemes for previous assessment series to help inform future teaching and delivery.
You will need an Edexcel Online login to access any padlocked secure materials and these are managed by your Exams Officer.
I hope you found this update useful. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me and the team using the contact details below.
You can also sign up to get these Art, Design & Media updates straight to your inbox every month.
