February 2026 Business update
29 January 2026
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Welcome to this second update of 2026!
The update starts with the exam entry codes your Exams Officer will be requesting if they have not done so already. You will also see invitations to join our examiner teams this summer for all four Business qualifications.
We hope that you will be able to join us for our after-school GCSE and A level network events this month. The GCSE event has been rescheduled and is now on 23 February.
There is a feature on onscreen assessment for International GCSE which may be of more general interest even if you don't teach International GCSE. This may be an opportunity to find out more and to try out the onscreen environment. There is also an invitation to join a webinar on the subject. The Ofqual consultation on onscreen assessment closes in early March.
| Date | Activity |
|---|---|
| 21 February | Entry deadline for International GCSE and AS/A level for UK centres |
| 23 February | GCSE Business network event |
| 25 February | A level Business network event |
| 5 March | Results day for IAL January 2026 series |
| 21 March | Entry deadline for international centres |
Your Exams Officer will soon be asking for the exam entry codes for the summer exams. Please provide your EO with the information well in advance of the deadlines.
| Qualification | Entry code | Entry deadline |
|---|---|---|
| GCSE Business | 1BS0 | 21 February* |
| A level Business | 9BS0 | 21 February* |
* Please note that for international centres, the entry deadline is 21 March.
| IAL Business | Entry code | Entry deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Unit 1 | WBS11 | 21 March |
| Unit 2 | WBS12 | 21 March |
| Unit 3 | WBS13 | 21 March |
| Unit 4 | WBS14 | 21 March |
| IAS cash-in | XBS11 | 21 March |
| IAL cash-in | YBS11 | 21 March |
4BS1A = the traditionally assessed linear papers
R - Regional papers - Pearson requires the following countries to use the alternative R option codes: Australia, Azerbaijan, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates and Vietnam.
C = Onscreen assessment
CR = Regional and onscreen papers
The entry deadlines are:
- 21 February for UK centres
- 21 March for International centres
| Entry | Option | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 4BS1 | A | Business (Papers 1 & 2) |
| 4BS1 | R | Business (Papers 1R & 2R) |
| 4BS1 | ZA | Business (Papers 1C & 2C) |
| 4BS1 | ZB | Business (Papers 1C & 2) |
| 4BS1 | ZC | Business (Papers 1 & 2C) |
| 4BS1 | ZD | Business (Papers 1CR & 2CR) |
| 4BS1 | ZE | Business (Papers 1CR & 2R) |
| 4BS1 | ZF | Business (Papers 1R & 2CR) |
| GCSE Business |
|---|
| Delivery support |
| Assessment support |
Delivery support focuses on free support materials, networking and both free and paid-for resources. There are links to Pearson, Hodder and other publishers.
| International GCSE Business |
|---|
| Delivery support |
| Assessment support |
Assessment support focuses on assessment news and tools, support in understanding the command verbs, and information about grade boundaries and statistics.
We are recruiting examiners for our Business qualifications and would invite you to join one of our examining teams.
The marking period is between May - July. The training required to mark as an examiner will take place between May and June.
Are you an ECT?
GCSE Business
After each event, a zipped file is uploaded to the qualification page. The zipped file includes the materials used in the event and a link to the recording.
| GCSE Business | |
|---|---|
| 23 February 16.00-17.00 | Support with Theme 2 Topics |
| 11 March 16.00-17.00 | Tackling 2- and 3-Mark Questions |
| 22 April 16.00-17.00 | Tackling 6-Mark Questions |
The GCSE Business You Tube Channel includes recordings of events from previous years.
Since 2024
Our onscreen assessments are the same as the paper-based assessments. The questions are the same and the exams are taken at the same time - the only difference is the format.
Students take their assessments at a centre, under exam conditions, working on devices.
Get to know the platform
Sample Assessment Materials (SAMs) for subjects that we currently deliver onscreen are available for you, your teachers, your students and their parents/guardians/carers to look at within our Sandbox environment.
It gives the opportunity to experience the platform and the functionalities available*.
To set up an account:
- go to the Sandbox environment
- click on ‘Don’t have an account’
- enter your email address as your UserID
- wait for an automatic email to confirm your email address
- proceed to log in.
*Any responses submitted within the Sandbox are not saved.
The onscreen toolkit
1. Booking App
https://booking.mod.pearson.com
This is where you can:
- assign familiarisation material
- manage invigilator accounts
- access submitted student scripts.
For an account to access and assign materials, please complete the form below:
2. Invigilator App
https://invigilate.mod.pearson.com
This is where you can:
- view invigilation sessions
- monitor student connectivity
- track progress through familiarisation material, mock assessments and live exams
You can view our video about navigating and using the Invigilator App by using the link below:
3. Assessment Player
https://assessment.mod.pearson.com
This is where students can:
- access all assigned assessments
- view current, upcoming and completed assessments
There is a guided tour video that demonstrates how students interact with the onscreen platform and you can also view support videos for specific tools available.
Our ‘Ask us Anything’ webinar is still available to view and includes hearing from some of our schools who were among the first to deliver our International GCSE English onscreen assessments. At a time stamp of approx. 26mins you can see how the Invigilator App and the Assessment Player interact during a live assessment.
Technology Set Up
The assessment player is compatible with multiple browsers and operating systems on both centre-owned and candidate-owned Windows and MAC devices. Only centre-owned Chromebooks are supported currently.
Devices must be capable of receiving and installing the latest software updates to ensure they remain supported and secure. You can find full technical guidance on our website.
New familiarisation materials now available
We're pleased to share that additional onscreen assessments have been added to the familiarisation library of our onscreen platform. These resources are freely available and ready for centres to use with learners.
Familiarisation materials are digitised versions of past papers designed to support both teachers and students in gaining confidence with the format, layout and features of our onscreen platform ahead of their high stakes assessments.
They can be assigned directly through the platform’s Booking App. If you need any help assigning assessments to your students or getting started with the onscreen platform, our Onscreen Assessment Team is here to support you – just email internationalonscreen@pearson.com.
The familiarisation material currently available is given below:
| Paper titles | Available Assessments |
|---|---|
Paper 1: Investigating small businesses Paper 2: Investigating large businesses |
November 2025 (Standard only) Summer 2025 (Standard & Regional) Summer 2024 (Standard & Regional) Summer 2023 (Regional only) Summer 2022 (Standard & Regional) |
TexttoSpeech (TTS) Functionality
We are pleased to confirm that within the onscreen platform, the text-to-speech tool will be available as an access arrangement for eligible students in selected assessments during the May/June 2026 series.
If you would like more information on this feature, please contact us at internationalonscreen@pearson.com.
Upcoming Drop-in Q&A Sessions
We're here to help with any general onscreen queries you may have, so please feel free to join our friendly drop-in sessions. Just remember to sign up in advance—we look forward to seeing you there!
There are two Facebook groups, one for each qualification. They are private groups and applicants are checked to confirm that they have an Edexcel Online account.
The GCSE group has over 3,000 members. The International GCSE group is much smaller.
There is also a Pearson Edexcel Facebook page designed to help and support you with the teaching and delivery of our UK qualifications. You can find the latest news, updates and information about our support services across subjects. From our own news to updates from Ofqual and JCQ, follow us on @PearsonEdexcel on Facebook to stay up to date.
GCSE Business Summer 2026 timetable
International GCSE Business Summer 2026 timetable
International GCSE Business November 2026 timetable
| A level Business |
|---|
| Delivery support |
| Assessment support |
Delivery support focuses on free support materials, networking and both free and paid-for resources. There are links to Pearson, Hodder and other publishers.
| IAL Business |
|---|
| Delivery support |
| Assessment support |
Assessment support focuses on assessment news and tools, support in understanding the command verbs, and information about grade boundaries and statistics.
We are recruiting examiners for our Business qualifications and would invite you to join one of our examining teams.
The marking period is between May - July. The training required to mark as an examiner will take place between May and June.
Apply to be an examiner for A level Business
Apply to be an examiner for IAL Business
Are you internationally based?
We are currently looking to expand our Examining workforce ahead of our assessment activities. We are seeking applicants to mark our International GCSE and International A Level qualifications in Business.
Apply to be an internationally based examiner
Please note that the event which is now on 9 December was originally scheduled for 3 December.
| A Level Business | |
|---|---|
| 25 February 16.00-17.00 | Support with Theme 3 and 4 Topics |
| 18 March 16.00-17.00 | Understanding the 'Assess' Command Word |
| 29 April 16.00-17.00 | Understanding the 'Evaluate' Command Word |
A level Business
After each event, a zipped file is uploaded to the qualification page. The zipped file includes the materials used in the event and a link to the recording.
The A level Business You Tube Channel includes recordings of events from previous years.
The mark schemes for GCE Business have been refreshed to include updated diagrams. These improvements ensure greater consistency across papers, support clearer interpretation, and help teachers and students engage more confidently with the assessment criteria.
Our thanks go to Learnogic Education for providing the diagrams, and Senior Examiner Maaz Khan for adapting them to meet question requirements. These contributions have improved the overall clarity and quality of our mark schemes.
The pre-release material for the June 2026 Paper 3 is now available.
Four new case studies have been added recently and we now have fifty five case studies mapped to the specification.
| Number | Title | Specification references | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 52 | Apple | 1.2.3 Markets 1.2.4 Price elasticity of demand 1.1.2 Market research 1.3.3 Pricing strategies |
|
| 53 | On the beach | 2.2.1 Sales forecasting 2.2.2 Sales, revenue and costs 2.5.3 The competitive environment 3.1.2 SWOT analysis |
|
| 54 | Strava | 1.2.1 Demand 2.1.2 External finance 2.5.3 The competitive environment 3.2.3 Organic growth |
|
| 55 | IKEA | 4.1.4 Protectionism 4.2.3 Assessment of a country as a production location 4.3.3 Cultural/social factors |
There are two Facebook groups, one for each qualification. They are private groups and applicants are checked to confirm that they have an Edexcel Online account.
The A level group has over 2,000 members. The IAL group is much smaller.
There is also a Pearson Edexcel Facebook page designed to help and support you with the teaching and delivery of our UK qualifications. You can find the latest news, updates and information about our support services across subjects. From our own news to updates from Ofqual and JCQ, follow us on @PearsonEdexcel on Facebook to stay up to date.
An A level Business teacher has created aTikTok account for his students which he has shared here.
A level Business: Summer 2026 Timetable
IAL Business Summer 2026 Timetable
IAL Business October 2026 Timetable
IAL Business January 2027 provisional timetable
Please note that this is a provisional timetable. Any feedback on provisional timetables should be sent to timetables@pearson.com.
Ofqual has launched a consultation on proposals for how on-screen assessment should be regulated in GCSEs, AS and A levels in England. Whilst they propose a controlled introduction of on-screen assessment, pen-and-paper will remain central to most exams.
As teachers working directly with students, you understand their needs and the challenges this proposal may present.
Your opinion counts. The consultation closes on 5 March 2026.
Now that the final report of the Curriculum and Assessment Review and the timelines have been published, we are now considering the implications for GCSE and A level Business. We will keep you informed of any further developments.
See the timeline (on page 52)
The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Financial Education has published a new report.
The report highlights persistent gaps in provision across the UK that need further attention and calls for a Financial Education Youth Guarantee; including financial education at every stage of learning; Financial Education Champions in every school; and a national financial education resource hub.
The report also highlights examples of positive practice and recent developments that could be scaled up, as well as specific recommendations to improve financial education.
You can access the full report, and executive summary, on the APPG’s webpage:
This is a recorded session which focuses on best practice when using ResultsPlus, alongside ExamWizard to analyse your students’ examination results, and improve your in-house approach to teaching the topics your students find challenging.
The Professional Development Academy summarises the training that is available to you.
Multi factor authentication was rolled out to nearly a quarter of a million Pearson Portal users last year. Although it has now become a standard way of accessing our systems, it can sometimes present challenges if a smart device is lost or replaced.
You can read more information, see a quick start guide and access FAQs and troubleshooting for our authenticator app in our Pearson Portal Authenticator support article.
Based on feedback received this graphic was created to answer some common questions.
You can read more information, see a quick start guide and access FAQs and troubleshooting for our authenticator app in our Pearson Portal Authenticator support article.
Subject advisor
Colin Leith
Business
Email :
Phone :
+44 (0) 344 463 2535
(Teaching Services team | Mon-Fri, 9am - 5pm GMT)
