English
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.
What’s in the October update?
-It’s not only about words: visual literacy week
-June 2026 exam insights and exemplars
-JCQ Summer 2026 results and new dashboards
-Help shape the design of next gen specifications
-GCSE: SEND training and SLE refresher course
-November 2026 exam series
-Int GCSE: are you teaching one of our new literature texts? Tell us what you think.
English is all about the senses: build on National Poetry Day by linking to Visual Literacy Week 2026, 5-11 October.
Join Art UK for a week of free events, webinars and resources exploring the importance of visual literacy in education and beyond.
Discover practical classroom approaches, hear from experts, and explore how visual literacy can help students develop critical thinking, communication and
creativity skills.
Explore the programme and book your free place.
Exam insights training is in full swing across our English qualifications. Don’t miss this opportunity to get a concise overview from senior examiners of what works well in responses using scripts from the series.
Exemplars
Coming soon, exemplars from June 2026 for GCSE and A level to inform your teaching this year.
JCQ have now published summer 2026 results on their website for GCSE and A level.
The results provide insights into student entries and attainment in England, Northern Ireland and Wales. JCQ has published results data for 26 years and all the data is on their website to facilitate comparisons.
For the first time JCQ has also published interactive data dashboards for A levels and GCSEs. These dashboards are being piloted with GCSE and A level data in the first instance.
Visit the JCQ GCSE interactive results dashboard
Visit the JCQ A level interactive results dashboard
How clear is your specification about what to teach, and how deeply? We're redesigning how our GCSE specifications are written, and we want to hear from teachers before we start, not after.
Our short survey takes about 12 minutes. It asks what works in the specifications you use now, what gets in the way, and what would help. There are no right answers, and we're as interested in what doesn't work as in what does.
It's anonymous, and open to all teachers, regardless of the exam board that you’re currently with.
Training for GCSE teachers of students with dyslexia and/or ASD
Supporting Every Learner, a free four-part CPD series to help GCSE English teachers better support learners with dyslexia and autism
Led by SEND specialists @Marlon James-Edwards and @Ben Aizenberg, the series offers practical, classroom-ready strategies that can be implemented immediately to support engagement, confidence and achievement. By joining you’ll also get:
✔ A certificate of attendance
✔ Credly badge for completing the full series and reflections
SLE refresher course: 10 November, 16.00-17.00 (GMT)
Come along for support and guidance on:
-Setting up your SLE teaching and assessment
-Meeting the needs of students with SEND
-Advice on monitoring and managing AI use and the new authentication sheet
-Standardising your assessments across teaching groups/teaching locations
-Managing recordings
-Making grade and sample submissions.
Book now
Key dates
GCSE
Entry deadline for November 2026: 4 October 2026.
Coursework and SLE submission deadline: 5 November 2026.
Exam dates (based on UK time zones)
1EN0 01 and 1EN2 01: 3.11.26
1EN0 02 and 1EN2 02: 5.11.26
Int GCSE
Entry deadline for November 2026: 12 September 2026.
Coursework and SLE submission deadline: 5 November 2026.
Exam dates (based on UK time zones)
4EA1 01, 4WEA1 01, 4EB1: 3.11.26
4EA1 02, 4WEA1 02: 5.11.26
4ET1 01 and 4WET1 01: 4.11.26
4ET1 02 and 4WET1 02: 16.11.26
Access full exam timetables for UK and international centres.
Changes to release of results, GCSE November 2026 series
Following feedback from teacher associations, JCQ is making an exceptional change to the date for the publication of GCSE results, November 2026 series. This will ensure students applying to UCAS in January 2027 for undergraduate courses can include their GCSE English Language and/or GCSE Mathematics result(s).
Restricted release of results to centres only
Original date: Wednesday 13 January 2027
New date: Tuesday 12 January 2027
Release of results to candidates
Orginal date: Thursday 14 January 2027
New date: Wednesday 13 January 2027
Go to the JCQ website.
We'd love to hear why you have or have not chosen to teach Klara or Western Lane and your thoughts on our Modern Prose texts generally?
If you could spend 4 minutes sharing your feedback, we'd be very grateful.
Complete the survey.
Subject advisor
Clare Haviland
English
Subject updates
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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