Welcome to your Pearson Edexcel Religious Studies May 2026 subject update!
Hello colleagues,
Time is certainly moving quickly, and the exam season is upon us. On behalf of the Religious Studies team, we extend our best wishes to all Religious Studies students for their success! As always, please do get in touch with me if you have any queries or if I can help with anything regarding our qualifications.
Best wishes,
Jenna Wyatt
Religious Studies Subject Advisor
I wanted to re-share a copy of the 2026 exam timetables so that you had easy access to them during the exam period. You can access these for each qualification below:
Join us for an online event designed to provide focused subject knowledge support for the 'Marriage and the Family' section, featured in the 'Christianity' area of study, for Pearson Edexcel's GCSE in Religious Studies (specification B).
The event will offer clarification on specification content, provide opportunities to discuss the planning of engaging lessons, using a variety of resources and activities, and the opportunity for 'Q&A' with a subject specialist.
The workshop would be suitable for both new and experienced teachers who want to enhance their subject knowledge and pedagogy.
25 June 2026 at 16:30-18:00 GMT
Following the release of the Curriculum and Assessment Review's Final Report and the government's response, we are keen to engage with GCSE Religious Studies teachers to hear your views and help shape future qualifications. We are keen to engage with teachers to hear your views and help shape future updates to our qualifications.
During the webinar we will discuss:
This is a chance to share your views on what you would like to see in updated qualifications.
Our webinars will be held on Thursday 11 June at 4.00pm and Tuesday 16 June at 4.00pm via MS Teams. If you’d like to participate, please complete the sign-up form below. Even if you can't make these dates, please still sign up as we may run additional webinars.
Pearson Religious Studies - Future UK Qualifications Webinar Sign-Up
Every month, we release an edition of 'Topic of the Month' with the aim of supporting cultural capital and stimulating discussion within the classroom.
This resource 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.
April's topic relates to an article, produced for World Religion News*entitled “Women of Faith and Freedom Mark March 8“ It relates to women’s role in strengthening faith communities and defending freedom of religion or belief globally.
Topic of the Month
As we gear up for the GCSE exams this summer, I thought it would be useful to share with you some resources available to support you.
Available for each paper, collating all past exam questions are our Exam Question Overviews:
Exam question overviews specification A
Exam question overviews specification B
Need some quick recall questions to help students revisit and reinforce key knowledge? See the revision resources below:
GCSE (a) Question Revision Resources for Specification A
GCSE (a) Question Revision Resources for Specification B
We also have five worksheets available which are about improving GCSE evaluation answers for 12‑mark questions:
Worksheet 1: Paper chains (of reasoning)
Worksheet 2: Appraisal sentence starters
Worksheet 4: Chains of reasoning checklist
Just a reminder that we also have exemplars available from a range of papers which help teachers and students see what different mark levels actually look like in 12-mark responses.
The recommended times for candidates to spend answering each
question in the GCSE:
User friendly level descriptors
For each command word at A Level
You can now submit your learners’ marks and samples for the summer series ELC internal assessments. The deadline to upload both marks and sample learner work is 15 May 2026.
Head over to Edexcel Online to submit marks and view selected learners for moderation. You’ll then upload learner work using the Learner Work Transfer portal.
Find guidance, how-to videos, and FAQs via the Learner Work Transfer index.
Be ready to provide additional samples. As part of our usual moderation process, your moderator or Pearson may request further learner work or documents. If contacted, please upload these through Learner Work Transfer as soon as possible.
Find specific guidance via our Pearson Edexcel ELC in Religious Studies Submission guidance
Find guidance, how-to videos, and FAQs via the Learner Work Transfer index.
You can also reach out to us via the Pearson support portal.
We recognise that the ongoing conflict in the Middle East continues to have a very real impact on students, families and centres.
Our dedicated support page brings together the latest guidance and arrangements for students whose learning and assessments have been disrupted. This page will be updated as the situation continues to evolve.
The Department for Education has launched a new consultation on reforming SEND support in England.
This is a chance for schools, colleges, families and professionals to share views on how the system can better meet the needs of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. Your feedback will help shape future policy and practice, and make sure real experiences are heard.
ATCRE is hosting an online teacher consultation on the Key Stage 4 Religious Education Directory (RED), on behalf of the Catholic Education Service.
The session will take place on Monday 18 May, 4–5pm.
Advance registration via the Microsoft Form is required by midday on Friday 15 May.
There is also an option on the form to submit comments if you are unable to attend.
Fill in this form should you wish to attend
I hope you found this update useful. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch using the contact details below. You can also sign up to get these Subject Advisor updates straight to your inbox every month.
