GCSE Citizenship Studies November 2022 Subject Update
Welcome to your Pearson Edexcel Citizenship Studies November 2022 subject update.
Hello colleagues,
Welcome to our November instalment of our email subject updates!
I wanted to take the opportunity to share some key updates, resources and information about upcoming events. If you have any questions about anything within this update or about our Citizenship Studies qualification, please do get in touch!
Best wishes,
Susan Currey
Citizenship Studies Subject Advisor
In this update,
- Summer 2023 exam timetables
- Citizenship in the News edition 1
- Upcoming event: Network meeting on Specification amends
- Access to Scripts: Deadline
- UK Youth Parliament debate: November 2022
- Citizenship Action Plan reminder
- Become an examiner for GCSE Citizenship Studies
- Spotlight on Assessment, Service and Support – 2022 and beyond
Citizenship in the News: Edition 1
Citizenship in the news aims to stimulate discussion for GCSE Citizenship Studies by considering contemporary issues and their relevance to our lives. We have compiled a range of recent news articles* and linked these to the key questions, explored in themes A-D of the specification. You may wish to investigate and integrate into your teaching practice to help contextualise key issues and bring the subject to life!
You can find it on our website under:
'GCSE Citizenship Studies'
'Teaching and Learning resources'
'Citizenship in the news'
*(Any views and opinions expressed through materials linked to this document are solely those of the external provider. These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of Pearson. Please be aware that the link provided may contain third party video content, which may contain adverts.)
Upcoming event: Network meeting on Specification amends
Wednesday 30th November 2022 (16:00-16:45)
In October, we published information and support for our specification amends to GCSE Citizenship Studies. To support this, we are running a network event which will explain the changes made to the GCSE Citizenship specification, what these changes mean for teaching and how these changes could be assessed.
There will also be an opportunity for Q&A for any queries you may have.
Booking is available at the following book page:
Access to Scripts: deadline
Edexcel offers a free 'Access to scripts' service following exam series. This allows teachers to download (with student consent) their students' scripts to see how they performed in the exam and what marks were awarded.
This service for the Summer 2022 exam series ends on December 16th so please make sure you have used this prior to then. To find out more about this service, please see the link below which will provide further information:
The Portal can only be accessed by Edexcel Online users who have the Exam Viewer profile ticked on Edexcel Online. Exams officers can give teachers access to Exam Viewer.
Scripts do not have examiner annotation on them. The marked script allows teachers to evaluate how the student performed on particular questions in relation to what they have been taught; the Principal Examiner's report and the exemplars that we make available demonstrate how the mark scheme is applied.
If scripts have been marked ‘traditionally’ (i.e. not online), you will need to request them, free of charge, by 16 December 2022, via the Post Results section of Edexcel Online as in previous exam series.
Candidate consent
Candidate consent is required before requesting script copies, as per section 4.2 of the JCQ's Post-results services guide. Candidate consent can only be obtained after results have been published.
UK Youth Parliament debate: November 2022
On 4th November 2022, the UK Youth Parliament sat in the House of Commons to debate issues of importance to them. This involved a morning and afternoon session, with the morning session chaired by speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle. Key issues that were chosen for debate included:
- The environment and health
- Education and health
- Mental health services
The young people who took part spoke eloquently and passionately about these issues and were a credit to their constituency.
To read more or see recordings of the debate, please see my subject update on this:
Taking Citizenship Action Reminder
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 to say 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 is below:
Become an examiner with us!
We are starting our examiner recruitment and are looking for specialists who are able to mark GCSE Citizenship Studies.
Experience/qualifications needed
- You will have one academic year's worth of teaching experience:
a. within the last 8 years
b. within the relevant qualification and subject
- You will have a degree or equivalent
- You will be a qualified teacher
This is an invaluable opportunity to develop your knowledge and understanding of the subject area and assessment process, building your confidence as a teacher and assessor.
25 November - Spotlight on Assessment, Service and Support – 2022 and beyond
Join us at our head office in the Strand, London, for our post-summer review event where we’ll cover the highlights, key trends and outcomes from the summer series. We’ll also be sharing our insights and plans for future developments in assessment. Aimed at UK centres that deliver both GCSE, International GCSE and A level qualifications, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to ask questions, network with colleagues and the Pearson assessment team.
With guest speaker, Mary Curnock Cook CBE, Chair of the Pearson Education Limited Board, and presentations from assessment experts, we look forward to welcoming you to this event.
Subject advisor
Susan Currey
Citizenship
