February 2026 Psychology subject update

Ofqual has launched a consultation on proposals for how on-screen assessment should be regulated in GCSEs, AS and A levels in England. Whilst they propose a controlled introduction of on-screen assessment, pen-and-paper will remain central to most exams.

As teachers working directly with students, you understand their needs and the challenges this proposal may present.

Your opinion counts. The consultation closes on 5 March 2026. Please take a look and have your say.

'Key question' questions are usually 'discuss' 8 markers, but it is possible for examiners to use any length of essay to assess them, including the 20 marker on clinical psychology.

The AO1 marks (4 on an 8 marker, 6 on a 16 marker and 8 on a 20 marker) will always be on knowledge of the key question and its impact on / relevance to society.

For 'discuss' 8 markers, there are always 4 AO2 marks (in addition to the 4 AO1) and these are for application of theory from the topic to the 'key question', so research studies are generally not useful here.

If the command words 'assess', 'evaluate' or 'to what extent' are used (as they would be for a 20 marker) then the marks will be for AO1 and then AO3 (so a 8 + 12 split for a 20 marker) and the AO3 for a 'key question' question is for assessing / evaluating how far research evidence supports the application of psychology to the question / issue.

There was an 8 mark 'assess' question on the key question for cognitive psychology in the AS Level paper 1 in 2023 - it's worth a look at the mark scheme and examiner report to get a feel for what examiners might be looking for in such a question - it's question 11:
Download paper
Download mark scheme
Download examiner report

For example, will generic AO1 points be creditworthy?

Whilst generic AO1, would get some marks, as the question is an essay and levels based marking is used to get to the higher levels candidates should apply their AO1 and AO3 to children and developmental psychology throughout their answer. 

Would it be credit worthy to include studies taken from other topics?

If the question mentions developmental psychology then all points should be linked to developmental psychology/child psychology. For example when writing an answer about research methods, the use of studies from other approaches can be used as long as it clearly references developmental/child psychology. E.g. Brendgen could be relevant, depending on the question, as they researched aggression in children. If candidates use a theory from another approach then this would have to be explicitly referenced to developmental/child psychology. E.g. A description of how hormones affect aggression would need to be explicitly referenced to children. 

Generic answers, depending on their depth and accuracy, would gain some marks as there is some knowledge and understanding. However this would be limited to the lower levels as there would be a limited attempt to answer the question. 

If the issue is that you can't download padlocked exam materials (the papers, mark schemes and examiner reports from the last 12 months) then most likely you need your Edexcel Online account re-set so you can get the Multi-Factor Authentication working. Contact our teaching services team through the support portal, or if you don't have an EOL account contact the exam officer at your school.

If you can access resources generally but the website is showing error messages, it's worth trying the following:

• Refresh the page (sometimes the first paper downloads correctly but not the second - a simple refresh can resolve this).
• Clear your browser's cache and try again.
• Try with a different browser (e.g. switch from Edge to Chrome) if you have one.

If these don't work, you can contact me at teachingpsychology@pearson.com and I can send you padlocked papers by secure file transfer.