April 2026 Economics update
Tue Mar 31 16:00:00 UTC 2026
Welcome to this April update!
There are two conferences for Economics teachers coming up, the first in London in May and the second in Birmingham, in June.
There are also links to two surveys in this update: a feedback survey on our FT case studies; and a survey on the UCAS application process.
For any Economics A student still in need of revision materials, there is a reminder of what we have available for support.
I hope that you enjoy the Easter break.
| Date | Activity |
|---|---|
| 21 May | Economics teacher conference - London |
| 24 June | Bank of England Conference - Birmingham |
| 13 August | Results Day for A levels and IAL |
| 20 August | Results Day for International GCSE |
Location: British Library, London
Planned sessions include:
- see Economics everywhere
- exam board specific sessions
- behavioural techniques for the Economics classroom
- strategies for high achievers
- boosting grades at the lower end
- ten top tips for HoDs
- ten top tips for new Economics teachers
- diversity in the Economics classroom
- strategies for encouraging girls to study Economics
- AI and gamification in Economics teaching
- mentoring new Economics teachers
- Bank of England speaker.
Location: Aston University, Birmingham
A free one-day conference designed for teachers delivering A level economics in UK schools and colleges. The conference will explore key topics, issues and debates designed to support your classroom teaching.
Speakers include:
- Tanveer Hussain, from the Bank of England, on financial regulation and the work of the Prudential Regulation Authority
- Isobel Dawson, Founder of Econosaurus, on approaches to improving economic writing
- Bob Hindle, from the University of Manchester, on Keynesian economics and the Phillips Curve
Plus:
- Breakout sessions linked to key curriculum topics
- Meet representatives from the examining bodies
- Teacher fair with organisations supporting economics teaching in schools
| A level Economics A |
|---|
| 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.
A level Economics B |
|---|
| 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.
This book helps students to:
- Organise their study with the one-topic-per-page format
- Speed up revision with summary notes in short, memorable chunks
- Track revision progress with at-a-glance check boxes
- Check understanding and exam skills with worked examples
- Develop exam technique with exam-style practice questions and full answers.
Designed specifically for teachers and students, these resources from the Institute for Fiscal Studies offer A-level / post-16, classroom-ready activities. They include short explainers (video, audio and text), podcasts with discussion questions, dedicated articles and much more. Produced in association with education experts, they aim to make economics engaging, accessible and grounded in a real-world context.
We are recruiting examiners for our Economics qualifications and would invite you to join one of our examining teams.
Are you an ECT?
Apply to be an NQT economics examiner for Economics A
Learnogic was created to provide a platform for sharing best practice. Whether you are looking for support for your school or your students, a team of senior examiners deliver a wide range of innovative In‑Person, Online, and Bespoke CPD sessions and Student Events designed to enhance teaching and learning pedagogy.
Learnogic also offer highly engaging, interactive resources — including animation‑based diagrams and model answers — to support effective content delivery.
Learnogic empowers you to master the art of assessment and elevate your students’ responses to the next level.
Please visit the delivery support pages to learn about both free and paid-for support available for our qualifications.
The after-school network events have finished for the year and will resume in the autumn term.
The latest recording can be viewed here:
We would welcome any feedback you may have on our FT case studies to help us improve these resources.
Two new case studies have recently been added and we now have twenty case studies mapped to the specification.
| Number | Title | Specification references | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19 | Nickel prices | 1.2.4 Supply 1.2.6 Price determination 3.3.4 Normal profits, supernormal profits and losses 4.1.6 Restrictions on free trade |
|
| 20 | Tunisian olive oil | 2.4.3 Equilibrium levels of real national income 4.3.2 Factors influencing growth and development 4.3.3 Strategies influencing growth and development |
Summer 2026 Timetable - Economics A
Summer 2026 Timetable - Economics B
| IAL Economics |
|---|
| 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 Economics |
|---|
| 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 know the ongoing conflict in the Middle East continues to affect students, families and centres in very real ways.
These page brings together the latest guidance and support available for students whose learning and assessments have been disrupted, with any new updates added here as the situation continues to evolve.
We are recruiting examiners for our Economics qualifications and would invite you to join one of our examining teams.
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 Economics.
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*.
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*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:
Learnogic was created to provide a platform for sharing best practice. Whether you are looking for support for your school or your students, a team of senior examiners deliver a wide range of innovative In‑Person, Online, and Bespoke CPD sessions and Student Events designed to enhance teaching and learning pedagogy.
Learnogic also offer highly engaging, interactive resources — including animation‑based diagrams and model answers — to support effective content delivery.
Learnogic empowers you to master the art of assessment and elevate your students’ responses to the next level.
Summer 2026 Timetable
November 2026 Timetable
Summer 2027 Provisional Timetable
The feedback window will run until Friday 20 March.
Please send any feedback into timetables@pearson.com.
Summer 2026 Timetable
October 2026 Timetable
January 2027 Provisional Timetable
Please note that this is a provisional timetable. Any feedback on provisional timetables should be sent to timetables@pearson.com.
Summer 2027 Provisional Timetable
The feedback window will run until Friday 20 March.
Please send any feedback into timetables@pearson.com.
We know many of our centres and students use the UCAS application service, when applying to Higher Education in the UK. We wanted to let you know that UCAS are currently consulting on the operation of the UCAS undergraduate admissions cycle, including:
- the number of initial choices a student can make
- the firm and insurance choice
- application deadlines, including the early (October) deadline and January Equal Consideration Date.
This is an opportunity for you to have your say. You can find out further details about the consultation and respond on the UCAS website. The deadline to respond is 18:00 (UK time) on 22 April 2026.
UCAS admissions consultation: dates, deadlines, and choices | UCAS
Pearson has partnered with the UCL Centre for Research in Autism and Education (CRAE), to look at how neurotypical and neurodivergent (e.g. those who are autistic/have ADHD) students answer GCSE exam questions.
Read the project overview for further information
We hope this will allow us to make our exams more accessible for all students.
We would be very grateful if centres would consider taking part in the next phase of this very important project.
Now that the final report of the Curriculum and Assessment Review and the timelines have been published, we are now considering the implications for A level Economics. We will keep you informed of any further developments.
See the timeline (on page 52)
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.
The Pearson Edexcel Facebook page is designed to help and support you with the teaching and delivery of our UK qualifications. We share 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.
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
Economics
Email :
Phone :
+44 (0) 344 463 2535
(Teaching Services team | Mon-Fri, 9am - 5pm GMT)
