Pearson Edexcel GCSE Music: November 2025 update

In this update

Curriculum and Assessment Review

Access to Scripts

Training events

Key dates

Curriculum and Assessment Review

The Curriculum and Assessment Review was published on 5 November 2025. This has set out recommendations for the National Curriculum. The Government have published a resonse to the Curriculum and Assessment Review.

Read the Curriculum and Assessment Review

Read the Government Response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review

The Curriculum and Assessment Review: our response

The Curriculum and Assessment Review is an important milestone for education and skills in the UK – and it’s just the beginning. 

We welcome the Review’s support for many of the recommendations we shared. All of these have been inspired by our work with schools and colleges across the country. And we’ll keep working to build an education system that empowers students, champions teachers, and drives the UK’s long-term success.

As we now move from ideas into further action, we’ll keep collaborating with educators, students, partners, sector experts to drive manageable and truly impactful change.  

We’ve already started to do this and would love for you to join us in our next steps. 

See our response and sign up for the latest news 

Access to scripts

The Self-Service Access to Scripts portal will close near the end of this term. 

• Friday 12 December 2025

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

These scripts will also be free of charge, but the final dates to request them are the same as the published JCQ Access to Scripts deadlines.

Visit the Access to scripts pages

Training

We are pleased to be running free online training events for components 1 and 3 in our GCSE Music qualification this term.

Our GCSE Component 1 coursework marking training event is designed to help you feel more confident understanding and applying the assessment criteria when marking work internally through live marking exercises. Our Effective strategies for teaching the GCSE Music appraising paper will support you delivering the exam component. 

Book a place on a training session

Key dates