Edexcel GCSE Music: May 2019 update

Pearson Support Portal

We recently launched the Pearson Support Portal. This is the new way to contact us if you have any questions about any of our products or services. 

To use the new Portal you will need to log in using your Edexcel online log in details, after which you will be able to contact us directly and:

• Open a support case and submit queries directly to us
• Receive email updates from us (these emails will be sent from customersupport.reply@pearson.com - so please be sure to add that to your trusted email list)
• Securely track progress and view all your cases and related correspondence 

Our support portal also offers access to a large knowledgebase of features, content and answers to FAQs that we hope you will find useful, including:

• Popular topics
• Popular products
• Trending articles 

Access the Pearson Support Portal

To help you explore the new portal we have created a User Guide, that you can download and view.

Access the Pearson Support Portal guide

As part of the portal there are new, public subject communities, where you can ask questions, share ideas, network and read frequently asked questions. Although you will be able to see all posts without logging in, you will need to log in with your Edexcel online details to post a comment. 

Access and join the Music community

Summer 2019 assessment

You should now have submitted the coursework to your moderators and I hope that this process goes well for you all. The exam for GCSE this year is on 4 June. I wish all of your students the best of luck in their exams.

Submission of under length performing or composing times

On 7 May a communication was sent to centres confirming the approach for candidates that didn't meet the time requirements for either performing or composing. We asked centres to keep a record of the timings of candidates submissions. 

To ensure all candidates are treated fairly, all centres are now required to complete an online Declaration Form as part of their administration of non-examined assessment (NEA). This Declaration Form will inform us of candidates who have not met the minimum time requirement.  We will use this information to apply the proportionate penalty to those candidates.

We have now sent a further communication with a link to the Declaration Form and this must be completed by 24 May.

Access the Declaration Form

Results and post results services

Results will be released to centres on 21 August with results released to candidates on 22 August. You will be able to access the exam paper and mark scheme online by the end of July with the Examiner's report being available from results day.

After the summer 2019 results are published in August, centres will be able to view and download scripts which have been marked online free of charge from our self-service portal via Edexcel Online.

The self-service portal will be available between the following dates for the summer 2019 series:

• Thursday 22 August 2019 - Friday 13 December 2019

Customers should save and/or print any scripts they need for teaching and learning purposes before the deadline.

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), centres will have to request them via the Post Results section of Edexcel Online as in previous exam series.

GCSE support for music students

A leading school music tour operator, Club Europe Concert Tours has worked with Liz Brewer, Head of Creative Arts at a school in Cleveland to develop a bespoke London-based GCSE music trip. The trip includes workshops, visits, shows and performances that all enhance students’ curriculum knowledge. Each workshop is carefully tailored to students’ needs.

“Both music workshops were excellent,” Liz commented on returning from her first trip. “Tom, the workshop leader, pitched it just right and did not ‘push’ individuals. He was very informative and the workshop was everything I had hoped for. The pupils commented afterwards that the set works covered in the workshop are now easier to understand.”

Like to know more?

Watch this short film

Read more about it here

Call Lucy Szymonski, Head of Club Europe Concert Tours, on 0208 772 2861; or

Email travel@club-europe.co.uk.

Key dates