October 2022 Psychology Subject Update

Thank you!

...to teachers who have given feedback and asked questions over recent months, and to those of you who have welcomed me so warmly as I have started in the new position of Psychology Subject Advisor this month. We are committed to responding to your questions, requests and ideas in order to improve our support of psychology teaching, so please do reach out if you have an issue or a suggestion!

Summer 2023: content and assessment arrangements

As expected the summer 2023 series should see a 'return to normal', although the DfE will continue to review this. Follow the links below for a the full announcement or for a summary of what this means for psychology.

2023 Provisional Exam Timetables

The provisional dates for next summer’s exams are available here. UK A-level Psychology exams are earlier and closer together than in previous years. These dates are the same for all UK exam boards and will be discussed as part of the consultation process. It is possible that the dates will be changed but this will depend on agreement between all the exam boards.

Feedback on the 2022 UK A Level Exams

Exam feedback training is being written by our senior examiners and will be delivered shortly - we will share details with centres in November. Important advice for students preparing for future A level exams and their teachers can be found in the examiners' reports on the last exam series, and you can read key messages taken from these by following the link below.

ResultsPlus - our online results analysis tool

ResultsPlus is our free online results analysis tool, that gives you a detailed breakdown of your students’ performance in Pearson Edexcel exams.

It provides you with the most detailed analysis available of your students’ performance. ResultsPlus will help you to identify topics and skills where your students could benefit from further learning – helping them gain a deeper understanding of their subject.

Teachers can sign into ResultsPlus using their Edexcel Online username and password if their account profile has ResultsPlus access granted by the Exams Officer.

Access to Scripts deadline: 16 December

You can also use our free Access to Scripts service to view your candidates’ marked exam scripts online or download as a PDF. It is available from results day until the 16 December 2022.

Providing a rich source of information, you can use this service to help make decisions about requesting a review of marking, but it can also help inform future teaching and learning and gives insights and visibility that performance data alone cannot provide.

If scripts have been marked ‘traditionally’ (ie not online), you will need to request them, free of charge, by 16 December 2022, via the Post Results section of Edexcel Online as in previous exam series.

Note, you will need 'Exam viewer' in your Edexcel Online profile if you want to download candidate scripts from results day. Please ask your Exams Officer if you need this adding to your profile.

Discover more about Access to Scripts, along with FAQs and a step-by-step User Guide.

Wider reading for students of psychology

BPS Research Digest

The research digest blog from the British Psychological Society is a great source of information on interesting current research. Encouraging students to engage in this, and to practise applying their knowledge of research methodology to examples of current research, is a great way to extend their interest in the subject beyond the specification whilst also helping to prepare them for exam questions on methodology.

Psychology Review

This magazine is another great source of wider reading for A level students especially, and the authors are keen to ensure that it is relevant to those following the Edexcel specifications. They will be working with us on content for future editions.