English
English GCSEs are going onscreen
Find out about our plans to offer English GCSE onscreen from June 2025.
Pearson is delighted to announce that, subject to Ofqual approval, students will be able to sit our three English GCSEs (English Language 1EN0 & 1EN2 and English Literature) onscreen from June 2025.
- Working on a digital device is a normal way of working for many students, and it’s the way they expect to operate in their future working lives. Many students already word-process their English exams as part of their access arrangements.
- The onscreen format has many benefits which are especially valuable both for SEND students and the whole cohort: use the split screen to look at the reading text and the questions at the same time (no page flipping); use sticky notes to jot down ideas; change font size/colour to a look that is best for you; or highlight parts of the text that you want to draw on whilst planning your response.
- Students tell us they want to sit exams onscreen and those that have tried it say it helps them show what they can do. Students say that ‘typed work’ presents their ‘best side’, and allows them to edit more easily.
Try the onscreen GCSE English exams in our sandbox (registration required).
For more than a decade, we’ve gained extensive experience in offering onscreen assessment, forexample with our L1/2 Functional Skills qualifications. From June 2022 we offered part of our GCSE in Computer Science onscreen, and we’ve been offering English mocks and final exams onscreen for English International GCSEs for several years. In summer 2024, students will be able to sit International GCSEs in seven subjects, including English Language and Literature onscreen.
Find out more about all the qualifications Pearson offers onscreen.
No, our aim is to offer more choice and a better experience for those who already do their exams on a device, especially those with additional needs. You will be able to try out the onscreen format and decide whether it suits some or all your students.
It's our ambition to have onscreen assessment available for all GCSEs by 2030.
We hope you’re as excited as we are about being able to offer onscreen assessment to GCSE English students.
Subject advisor
Clare Haviland
English
Subject updates
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October 2026 teaching English update
Celebrating all things poetic on National Poetry Day 2026 and beyond
Poetry is a form that particularly lends itself to expressing ‘wonder’ and what better way of spending some classroom time on National Poetry Day, 1 October, than in helping students to do just that, either by producing their own poems or finding their experiences and feelings expressed in poems by others. Thank you to all those organisations offering inspiration on National Poetry Day 2026, especially those we work with at Pearson.
My workspace is enriched by Poetry By Heart poetry posters and National Poetry Day and the Forward Prizes from Forward Arts Foundation 'Dream Like a Poet' posters which appear in the 'swirl' below.
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September 2026 teaching English update
Welcome back to the autumn term.
I hope that you and your students had a positive experience on results days and that you’re feeling well-prepared for the term ahead.
I look forward to supporting you in the post-results period and the start of the 2026-2027 school year.Best wishes
Clare Haviland