December 2022 GCSE Religious Studies Subject Update
Welcome to your Pearson Edexcel Religious Studies December 2022 subject update.
Hello colleagues,
I hope you have had a productive and enjoyable first term and are looking forward to a well-deserved winter holiday! From everyone within the Edexcel Religious Studies team, we wish you a fantastic, restful break!
I wanted to take the opportunity before the end of term, to share some useful resources, reminders and links to upcoming events. As always, if you have any questions about anything within this update or about our Religious Studies qualifications, please do get in touch at TeachingReligiousStudies@pearson.com!
Best wishes,
Susan Currey
Religious Studies Subject Advisor
GCSE Level 4 (d) exemplar answers
We have collated a selection of Level 4 answers from the summer 2022 exam series to support centres in understanding the Level 4 criteria. These include answers across the Level 4 mark range selected from our different paper options at GCSE.
Each answer includes annotations and analysis identifying how each answer met the level descriptors.
International GCSE: 2023 events
Module 1: Introduction to International GCSE RS
Tuesday 7th February 2023
(09:00-11:00 GMT)
Cost: £FREE
Designed at giving an overview of the qualification for those who are new to teaching this course.
Booking is available at the following booking page:
Module 2: Assessment and Marking - International GCSE RS
Tuesday 21st February 2023
(09:00-11:00 GMT)
Cost: £FREE
Designed with a focus on Assessment and Marking, applying mark schemes and looking at student exemplar answers.
Booking is available at the following booking page:
AS level Past Exam Questions Overview
We have collated all Edexcel AS level Religious Studies past questions across years for each paper. This provides an overview of the different questions asked on each paper over the qualification cycle so you can see how a topic has been assessed in different ways across the cycle.
The index document (seen top right) allows you to access each paper overview (bottom right). The index document also includes links to associated mark schemes for each series.
Alternatively, each overview is available on our AS and A level qualification page under 'Teaching and Learning' then 'Assessment materials'.
Nb: You will need your Edexcel Online login details to access 2022 exam materials
December 'Topic of the Month'
Every month, we release an edition of 'Topic of the Month' with the aim of supporting cultural capital and stimulating discussion within the classroom. Each edition ties a current news event to our qualification content and enables students to see the bigger picture of what they are learning and how it relates to the world around them.
Each edition includes a link to an article alongside some key discussion questions to encourage thought around the subject.
Our previous editions can be found on our qualification pages under the 'Topic of the Month' tab:
Our December edition looks at two key articles. One focusing on religious and secular Christmas celebrations and the second article looking at Bodhi day in Japan.
Access to Scripts: deadline
Edexcel offers a free 'Access to scripts' service following exam series. This allows teachers to download (with student consent) their students' scripts to see how they performed in the exam and what marks were awarded.
This service for the Summer 2022 exam series ends on December 16th so please make sure you have used this prior to then. To find out more about this service, please see the link below which will provide further information:
The Portal can only be accessed by Edexcel Online users who have the Exam Viewer profile ticked on Edexcel Online. Exams officers can give teachers access to Exam Viewer.
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), 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.
Candidate consent
Candidate consent is required before requesting script copies, as per section 4.2 of the JCQ's Post-results services guide. Candidate consent can only be obtained after results have been published.
This is an invaluable opportunity to develop your knowledge and understanding of the subject area and assessment process, building your confidence as a teacher and assessor.
Become an examiner with us!
We are starting our examiner recruitment and are looking for specialists who are able to mark GCSE Religious Studies (Specifications A & B), International GCSE Religious Studies and A Level Religious Studies.
Experience/qualifications needed
- You will have one academic year's worth of teaching experience:
a. within the last 8 years
b. within the relevant qualification and subject
- You will have a degree or equivalent
- You will be a qualified teacher
Subject advisor
Susan Currey
Religious Studies
