June 2026 Psychology subject update
Hi everyone,
Your June Psychology update is here! I've led this month with our exam feedback survey - please do let us know your views on this summer's papers. We also have guidance on exam material publication, a new Ofqual podcast and future training opportunities.
As ever, do get in touch if I might be able to help with any aspect of your teaching - follow the link below to the bottom of the page to book a Teams call with me or to get in touch via email.
Best wishes,
Tim Lawrence
Psychology Subject Advisor
This update includes:
- Key dates
- Exam feedback surveys: we'd love to have your views on the May/June 2026 papers.
- Publication of exam materials: a reminder that while papers are published in June, mark schemes come later, in July.
- New Ofqual podcast: for teachers and school leaders.
- Training and professional development: exam feedback events in November and our transition to A Level network event in July.
- FAQs from psychology teachers
| 7 July | Transition to A Level Network online training |
| 13 August | A Level and IAL results day |
| 20 August | GCSE results day |
Final exam timetables for the summer 2027 exam series are available on our webpage linked below.
We wish to provide students with the best possible exam experience, and your insights are crucial in helping us achieve this goal. If you're a teacher whose students have taken any of our exams in the May/June 2026 series, we are eager to hear your thoughts.Your feedback will play a vital role in shaping the future of our qualifications and assessments. Your input will be shared with our senior examiners and across our subject teams to help us continuously improve future assessments and enhance the exam experience for students.
Please take a few minutes to provide your feedback, thank you.
The article linked below gives the publication dates for question papers, mark schemes and examiner reports for the May/June 2026 series. It's worth noting that although the GCSE and A Level papers will be published later in June, mark schemes come later (in July) - typically too late for the marking of Year 10 and Year 12 mock exams assuming this needs to be done before the end of term.
Ofqual is launching a podcast for teachers and school leaders.
'Can I Just Qualify That?' will be built around conversations that matter and advice you can use.
Episode one drops on Thursday 4 June on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon Music.
The first few episodes will cover everything from qualification reform and how GCSE and A level grading works, to helpful tips for exam season, results days, and cyber security.
For UK A Level teachers we have a new live online training event open for booking now: Transition to A Level Network on 7 July. This free training will provide you with an opportunity to learn and discuss effective teaching and learning strategies, ensuring that your students are well-prepared for A Level Psychology. Given the similarity between UK and International A Levels this event will be useful for IAL Psychology teachers too.
Live, free, online exam feedback events in November are now available for booking for A Level Psychology (on 10 November) and for GCSE Psychology (on 18 November). Pre-recorded exam feedback training for IAL Psychology will also be available around this time.
Follow the link below to find out more.
The link above will also show options to access recordings of past training content, including the following playlists:
We also provide centre-based training opportunities. If this is something you would like to explore, please visit our training page below.
This is a common question from teachers of GCSE, A Level and IAL Psychology, and the guidance is the same for each course.
Both approaches are good and both can produce a full-mark answer. The main advantage of separate paragraphs for each AO is that is helps students to ensure that they write a suitable amount for each one. I think that for most students this is a simpler approach, and definitely good to encourage them to use if they struggle to include enough of one of the three AOs in their answer.
On the other hand the 'interleaved' approach where each paragraph starts with some AO1 knowledge, then applies it to the scenario, then evaluates it, can help students to connect ideas and develop arguments. It might be a better approach to help students who are more confident with these questions to improve their marks and reach the top band.
Ultimately it's up to you and your students which you and they think suits them best.
Gridlines are present in the pdf files of past papers and mark schemes in a 'hidden layer' that is used in the process of producing them. Despite being set to be not visible and to not print, sometimes they are printed and it can be very difficult to prevent this!
One solution if you have access to Adobe Acrxobat is to open the pdf with this app, then in the print dialogue go to 'advanced' and check the 'print as image' box.
If you don't have access to this app, feel free to contact us on teachingpsychology@pearson.com to request a copy made in this way.
Subject advisor
Tim Lawrence
Psychology and international Science
