November 2023 Business update
Welcome to this November 2023 update!
Our GCSE and A level network events are now well under way and will continue through the year. The registration links for the events this term are now available.
We have continued our GCSE and A level case studies adapted from articles in the Financial Times. This year we have added suggested answers to the exam-style questions. I hope that you will find them useful.
In this month's update:
| Date | Activity |
|---|---|
| 7 November | A level network - reflections from 9BS03 |
| 15 November | GCSE network - Tackling the 12 mark question |
| 6 December | GCSE network - Mocks Marking Live! |
| 12 December | A level network - Mocks Review |
Economics and BTEC updates
If you teach any of our Economics or BTEC qualifications, you may wish to check out the monthly updates.
There is a new support page for you to bookmark – General qualifications assessment support. Here we’ll share news information and updates from Ofqual, the Department for Education (DfE), the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) and Pearson, relating to the exams and assessments for our GCSE, AS and A level qualifications.
We’ll be updating it regularly so you know you’ve got all the latest announcements, news, support materials and updates to enable you to teach our qualifications, help your students with their assessments and post-results support, to enable them to progress.
On 21 September 2023, Ofqual published the resilience guidance for centres delivering: GCSE, AS and A levels, Project Qualifications and Advanced Extension Award in maths (AEA). We’ve put together a summary of this guidance on our new support page with links through to the full information from Ofqual.
The link to the Ofqual page allows you to read this guidance in full.
On 15 September 2023 the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) updated its ‘Instructions for the Conduct of Qualifications’ document for the 2023/24 academic year to provide more clarity to candidates, exam officers and teachers given recent changes in technology.
In particular, the use of calculators in exams has been updated in Section 10 ‘Using calculators’. The use of calculators applies to a number of different subjects so please do pass this information to all who need to read it.
Full details can be found in the in the booklet Instructions for conducting examinations 2023-2024 and a set of FAQs about using calculators on the JCQ website.
The Access to Scripts service allows you to view your candidates’ marked scripts online or download as PDFs, providing transparency of marking and to help you make decisions around requests for reviews of marking and inform future teaching and learning.
The Access to Scripts service provides a rich source of information, enabling detailed analysis to inform teaching and learning and support students, giving insights and visibility that performance data alone cannot provide.
The portal can only be accessed by Edexcel Online users who have the 'Exam Viewer' profile ticked on Edexcel Online. Your exams officer gives teachers access to 'Exam Viewer'.
Please note that these scripts do not contain examiners' annotations.
If scripts have been marked 'traditionally' (i.e. not online), you will need to request them, free of charge, by the published deadline, via the Post Results section of Edexcel Online as in previous exam series.
Access To Scripts via Script Viewer is available from Results Day until 15 December 2023.
Candidate consent is required before requesting script copies, as per section 6.2.1 of the JCQ's Post-Results Services guide. Candidate consent can only be obtained after results have been published.
Candidate consent forms can be found in Appendix B of the JCQ Post results Services document.
If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of a review of marking, you may wish to appeal against the decision. We will allow the head of centre (or designated member of the centre’s senior management team or examinations manager) 30 calendar days from the receipt of the outcome of the review of marking, during which an appeal may be lodged by sending an email to the following address: edexcelappeals@pearson.com. There is further guidance on appeals on our website.
Applications for appeals may only be accepted from a head of centre (on behalf of a candidate or a group of candidates) or private candidates. See the JCQ appeals booklet, 46 & 47.
For help with:
- free support and networking
- free resources
- paid-for resources from Pearson
- paid-for resources from Hodder
- other paid-for resources
For help with:
- recorded feedback training
- building your own question papers (examWizard)
- the key command verbs
- grade boundaries and statistics
Save the dates!
The dates for the 2023-2024 GCSE network events are below.
| 15 November | Tackling the 12 mark question with a focus on writing conclusions In this session we will look in detail at what is required to gain top level marks in the 12-mark evaluation question. The session will look at how students can best structure their response to these questions. In doing so we will provide you with several examples for use in the classroom. We will focus on writing conclusions, looking at what is required to obtain Level 3 for A03b. |
| 6 December | Paper 1 Mock Marking Live! In this session we will live mark a mock Paper 1 exam. Throughout the session we will look at all the question types, giving you the tools and techniques which you can pass on to your students so they can be successful. It will also provide you with the skills to be able to accurately mark your own mocks to the standard used by examiners in the summer. |
| 17 January | Classroom tips for topic areas |
| 21 February | Tackling the 9 mark Justify question |
| 20 March | Paper 2 Mock Marking Live! |
| 24 April | Top tips for reaching grade 9 and raising attinment in lower attainers. |
Pearson Revise Online gives every student the same access to all their revision guides for Pearson Edexcel and AQA subjects. All in one place online, with quick quizzes and knowledge checks to help them prioritise their learning.
This year, teachers can get free access to the platform to use in front-of-class revision lessons in the run-up to mocks.
The 28 case studies uploaded last year used the Financial Times as the main source.
This year the case studies have a slightly different format which includes suggested answers.
| Case study | Topic areas - Theme 1 | Topic areas - Theme 2 | |
| 29 | Mars | 1.1.1 The dynamic nature of business 1.5.1 Business stakeholders |
2.1.4 Ethics, the environment and business 2.3.2 Working with suppliers 2.4.2 Understanding business performance |
| 30 | Deliveroo | 1.2.4 The competitive environment 1.4.2 Business location |
2.1.1 Business growth 2.1.3 Business and globalisation |
These booklets offer a basic template for teachers and learners and include:
- specification content
- key terms
- a case study
- exam-style questions
- explanations of command verbs
The booklets can be customised by adding images, a school logo, and further questions. If you look on the qualification page you will see that there are two files for Topic 1.4.1. One of them has been customised to provide an example of how this can be done.
They really are an excellent resource.
The entry deadline for UK centres is 21 February 2024.
The entry deadline for international centres is 21 March 2024.
For help with:
- free support and networking
- free resources
- paid-for resources
For help with:
- building your own question papers (examWizard)
- the key command verbs
- grade boundaries and statistics
Onscreen mocks are now available for International GCSE Business
We are seeking to employ examiners for International GCSE Business and Commerce.
To help your planning we now have both a course planner and a scheme of work for the modular International GCSE in Commerce.
International GCSE Business will have the first onscreen assessment available from 2024.
Make sure you’re signed up for the latest onscreen assessment news to find out how to register your school.
The Pearson onscreen sandbox (test environment) gives students all the practice they need to explore the platform’s functionality and build their confidence before they sit their exams onscreen.
It’s easy to register for an account: just click on Register for an account and enter your email address as your user ID.
The materials are digitised in the same platform as the mock and high-stakes onscreen exams and are a good opportunity for teachers and students to get to know the platform and functionality available.
Whilst the user experience mirrors what can be expected from the mocks and high-stakes assessments, please note that any solutions submitted through the sandbox environment by candidates will not be saved.
International GCSE Business is in the last group of subjects to make a modular route available to learners from September 2025.
This means that we will have both a modular and a linear route to achieve this qualification for centres outside the UK.
If you are happy with the linear approach, there is no need to move to the modular route; our linear International GCSEs will continue to be offered and taken widely by learners around the world.
However, if you believe the modular route will be of benefit to your learners, this will be available from September 2025 with the first exams in May/June 2026.
We're introducing a regular International GCSE November series, first running in November 2023. The November series is being introduced to best meet the needs of students requiring International GCSE exam opportunities outside of the full May/June series, and it will replace the existing January series from 2024. This will result in just May/June and November series going forward for International GCSE.
Why are we moving to a November exam series?
Due to the pandemic, circumstances meant that we needed to follow a November International GCSE exam series in 2020, 2021 and 2022. As the November series seemed to be well received, we consulted schools to understand whether there was a preference for a permanent November exam series or reverting to January.
November was the preferred option for most schools; not just for resits, but also for learners studying on a January–December academic year.
The timetable is below.
The entry deadline was 15 September.
The entry deadline for UK centres is 21 February 2024.
The entry deadline for international centres is 21 March 2024.
For help with:
- free support and networking
- free resources
- paid-for resources from Pearson
- paid-for resources from Hodder
- other paid-for resources
For help with:
- recorded feedback training
- building your own question papers (examWizard)
- the key command verbs
- grade boundaries and statistics
AS question papers will now have separate source booklets to bring them in line with A level question papers.
Save the dates!
The dates for the 2023-2024 A level network events are below.
The links to sign up will appear through the year on the training page.
| Tuesday 7 November | Reflections from 9BS03 This session will focus on reviewing 9BS03 from the summer examination series. It will look at what the students did well and common errors that were observed. We will give examples of these observations by going through a number of responses. There will be activities that will allow you to mark and suggest improvements to responses. |
| Tuesday 12 December | Mocks review This session will look at ways in which departments may choose to review the mock examinations to maximise the progress of learners. There will be an opportunity to network and share ideas with other teachers on how to get the best from mock feedback and next steps for the students after their mock examinations |
| Tuesday 23 January | From C to A* grade answers This session will look at a number of student response to see how these responses can be improved, by identifying the key areas of the marking grid that should be maximised to reach the top level or marks on each question |
| Tuesday 5 March | Developing effective conclusions This session will look at the different ways to approach a conclusion on a 10,12 and 20 mark question. It will look at common errors that students make when attempting a conclusion and good examples of when they have reached top marks. |
| Tuesday 30 April | Revision (learn to learn) strategies This session will be focussed on learning strategies for A Level Business, in particular topics that students often confuse or get wrong. There will be opportunities to network with other teachers and share best practice in the classroom to support the students with their revision |
Free student livestreams on a variety of Theme 1 and 2 topics start on Tuesday 10 October at 18.00 and continue on subsequent Tuesdays until the end of November.
The 28 case studies uploaded last year used the Financial Times as the main source.
This year the case studies have a slightly different format which includes suggested answers.
| Case Study | Theme 1 | Theme 2 | Theme 3 | Theme 4 | |
| 29 | Sony | 1.3.5 Marketing strategy | 2.5.1 Economic influences | 3.1.4 Impact of external influences | |
| 30 | Canada | 2.4.1 Production, productivity and efficiency | 4.2.2 Assessment of a country as a market 4.2.3 Assessment of a country as a production location |
This document considers:
- key assessment differences between the specifications
- key content differences between the specifications
The Economics Factory now has digital versions of the Anforme A level Business books.
The entry deadline for UK centres is 21 February 2024.
The entry deadline for international centres is 21 March 2024.
For help with:
- free support and networking
- free resources
- paid-for resources
For help with:
- building your own question papers (examWizard)
- the key command verbs
- grade boundaries and statistics
This online training is designed for teachers who are new to delivering the International Advanced level Business specification.
Module 1 focuses on teaching the course and will give you an understanding of the content of the qualification and how to cover it, course/lesson planning, understanding the assessment and preparing students for it, and a brief overview of support from Pearson available to teachers.
Module 2 will give you an understanding of how the content is assessed by reviewing the assessment objectives and mark schemes, practise applying the mark schemes using exemplar student work, as well as an understanding of how marks were determined.
Module 1: 07 November 2023 at 13:00 - 15:00 GMT
Module 2: 14 November 2023 at 13:00 - 15:00 GMT
This online training is designed for teachers who are delivering the International A Level Business specification.
This training will give you an understanding of how assessments are structured for the qualification and how your teaching can be adapted to help your students’ performance on examination papers.
The training is comprised of two 'standalone' modules which are booked separately.
Module 1: 21 November 2023 at 13:00 - 15:00 GMT
Module 2: 28 November 2023 at 13:00 - 15:00 GMT
The entry deadline was 28 August 2023.
The entry deadline is 17 October 2023.
The entry deadline is 21 March 2024.
Subject advisor
Colin Leith
Business
