April 2024 Citizenship Studies subject update
Welcome to your Pearson Edexcel Citizenship Studies April 2024 subject update!
I hope that you had a lovely, restful break! In the run up to exam season, I wanted to take the opportunity to remind you about some useful upcoming CPD and share some new teaching and learning resources, including some new exemplar answers.
As always, if you have any queries about anything in this subject update or about our qualification, then please do get in touch with me.
Best wishes,
Susan Currey
Citizenship Studies Subject Advisor
Contact details:
☎ Call: 0344 463 2535
✉ Email: TeachingCitizenship@pearson.com
Assessment and Marking online training event
To support teachers understand how examiners award marks and apply the mark scheme in GCSE Citizenship Studies, we are offering a new 'Assessment and Marking' online training event.
This online event is designed for teachers who wish to familiarise and/or improve their understanding of assessment practices for GCSE Citizenship Studies.
This will enable you to mark mock assessments in school more confidently, as well as to understand the marking of candidate responses from live assessments.
During this event delegates will:
- be introduced to the exam paper structure, the various question types and command words used in these question
- understand when and where marks are and are not to be awarded for different question types
- understand the levels-based mark schemes used and the relationship between different levels as described in the level descriptors
- explore examples of different student responses to questions and how they would be assessed exemplifying key skills within level descriptors.
| Date | Time | Booking Link |
|---|---|---|
23rd April 2024 |
16:30 - 18:00 | Event now passed |
To help support teachers understand the expectations regarding 6-mark source questions, we are pleased to share a range of exemplar answers from different questions. These exemplars were taken from the 2023 exam series, with marks spanning across the mark and level range.
All exemplars were marked against our level descriptors and are provided alongside examiner commentary.
*As these include 2023 exam questions, you will need your Edexcel Online login to access these.
We have compiled a list of top examiner tips to support students at GCSE Citizenship Studies prepare for their GCSE exams. It includes key reminders to help students use what they know to answer each question as best they can.
We hope you find them useful!
Citizenship action submission
Citizenship action is a planned course of informed action to address a citizenship issue or question of concern and aimed at delivering a benefit or change for a particular community or wider society. This is a required part of the GCSE Citizenship Studies course and students are examined on their action as part of Paper 2.
Each year, centres must certify that candidates have completed their Citizenship Action and submit a form to confirm this.
This must be submitted by 15th May.
The links to the Citizenship Action form and the authentification submission are below:
Citizenship Action Guidance
For further support around Citizenship Action, we have the following guide available to centres:
Help your students feel as prepared as possible for the upcoming exam season.
In addition to all the support you provide, both Ofqual, JCQ and Pearson have a range of information to help inform and guide your students during this busy time. Please take a look at the information we’ve summarised below and pass it on to your students.
Support from Ofqual
The Ofqual Student Guide 2024 provides students with information about this year’s arrangements for GCSE, AS and A level qualifications, and explains what support is in place when taking exams and assessments.
Read the Ofqual Student Guide 2024 below:
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Ofqual Student Guide 2024
This guide provides you with information about this year’s arrangements for qualifications regulated by Ofqual. It also explains what support is in place when taking exams and assessments.
Support from JCQ
The JCQ has a range of information and support for students – from coursework and onscreen exams to written exams, along with a checklist for exam day.
Take a look at all the support JCQ have to offer for students - see link below
Support from Pearson
As the revision season is now fully under way and students begin to turn their focus towards the summer exam series, we’d like to share our Getting ready for exams guide that includes some top tips and advice including:
- preparing for exams
- what happens on exam day
- where to find further support
- what happens once exams are over.
Take a look at the guide below and please pass it on to your students
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Pearson Edexcel Qualifications assessment support page
You can stay up to date with all our support for 2024 on our Qualifications assessment support page
As we come up to the exam period, I wanted to re-share the exam timetables with you. You can access these for GCSE below:
I hope you found this update useful.
Please get in touch with me if you have any questions!
Subject advisor
Jenna Wyatt
Citizenship
