January 2024 Psychology subject update

From 1 January 2024, we are pleased to confirm that there will be a new web form for centres and private candidates to use when they wish to submit an application to appeal or request a review of an administrative decision. Using this web form will help to guide centres and private candidates in the information that needs to be provided in an application to appeal. This will help us to ensure we can process all applications promptly.

The web form will be available on our main Post-results web
page and on our Post-results services web page for T levels, and will be
operational by 1 January 2024. From that date onwards we will no longer accept
appeal applications that are made directly to our appeals email inbox. Appeals
submitted to the inbox prior to 01 January 2024 will be processed. We will
return any applications to appeal that are sent to our appeals inbox from 01
January 2024 to you with a request to submit them using the web form.

Centres and private candidates must use the web form to submit appeals related to: 

1. the outcome of reviews of marking/moderation (within 30 calendar days of the date of the decision)
2. the decisions made in relation to student or centre malpractice (within 14 calendar days of the date of the decision)
3. the decisions made in relation to access arrangements, special consideration, reasonable adjustments (within 14 calendar days of the date of the decision)
4. the outcome of a preliminary appeal in any of the areas above. An application for an appeal hearing must only be made once a preliminary appeal has been conducted and must be made within 14 calendar days of the date of the preliminary appeal decision.

Centres and private candidates must also use the web form to request the review of an administrative decision in areas such as decisions made in relation to very late arrivals and where we have issued an aegrotat (estimated grade).

Further information on the appeals process can be found in the JCQ Appeals Booklet 2023.

Further information on appeals, including fees, can also be found on our website.

General queries about issues that are not appeals should not be submitted on the appeals webform as we will not be able to process them. If you need help with a matter that is not an appeal, please contact our customer services team for assistance. This will ensure your query can be routed to the appropriate team without delay.

• The web form will be available on our main Post-results web page
• Post-results services web page for T levels
• JCQ Appeals Booklet 2023
• Further information on appeals, including fees, can also be found on our website
• Contact our customer services team

Provisional timetables for Summer 2025 were published on Monday 22nd January as agreed by JCQ and all other awarding bodies.

They can be found on our Provisional timetables web page.

Consultation window will run from Monday 22nd January to Friday 23rd February.

Please send any feedback you may have to Timetables@Pearson.com

• View the provisional timetables web page.

We have now set up Microsoft's Bookings system, and I have set aside times when you can book a Teams call with me. My Subject Advisor colleagues who have been using this system have found it to be a great way to enable more direct support conversations to happen and build connection with teachers.

The default appointment time is ten minutes, and the idea is that rather than send an email and wait for a response, it can be helpful to book a time a few days in advance and have a conversation. Longer appointments are also available.

• Visit our Psychology Subject Advisor bookings page

For those teaching the child psychology option for A Level Psychology, resources including textbooks often take a traditional deficit-based view of autism which is at odds with the neurodiveristy paradigm.

We have been working with experts to produce a resource to support teachers in delivering this content in a neurodiversity-affirming way, which also prepares students effectively for their exam.

We plan to update our Pearson published textbook soon, and will also pass on the work we have done to the other publishers of popular course textbooks.

The January edition of The Psychologist - the magazine of the British Psychological Society - is a great 'long read' on this subject.

If you teach this content, or if you are interested in the project, please view the draft version of the resource at the link below and give your feedback.

• View the draft 'teaching autism in a neurodiversity-affirming way' resource
• The Psychologist - special neurodiversity edition

There are few resources available for teaching the 'history of abnormality' specification point in the clinical psychology topic, so we have produce a presentation which can be downloaded from our community support page below.

• View the history of abnormality resource in our community group.