Welcome to the July Teaching Science update
This update brings together key dates, training opportunities, new resources and guidance to support your planning and teaching. You’ll also find information to help you prepare for Results Day.
Best wishes,
Irine Muhiuddin
Science Subject Advisor
| Date | Activity |
|---|---|
| 15 June | Standards verification Second sampling deadline (if required) |
| 5 July | Deadline to report internally assessed BTEC unit grades on Edexcel Online for release of results in August. |
| 13 August | Results Day for A levels and BTEC Nationals |
| 20 August | Results Day for GCSE and BTEC L1/L2 Firsts |
GCSE and A level Summer 2026 assessment materials release dates are provided in our knowledge article.
The 2025/26 BTEC key dates and checkpoints are live. While exams officers take the lead, your involvement is still important.
Your overview of key QA activities for the year.
Understanding your students' results - a guide to post-results services
As you prepare for results day, take a look at our post-results support guide to help you find the information you need to understand and analyse your students’ results, and what you can do if you have any queries about grading or marking.
Support for students ahead of results day
Waiting for exam results can be nerve-wracking for many students. Our guide for students, parents and carers on Understanding results and grades contains helpful information about what to expect on results day and where to find further support.
The guide includes information on:
Please pass this information on to your students.
You can access Summer 2026 grade boundaries on our website from results day. In addition to the official grade boundaries that are produced at subject level, we will also be providing notional grade boundaries at paper level. These can help you mark and assess future mocks.
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.
Examiner Reports can be obtained from ResultsPlus on results day by following the steps below:
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 11 December 2026.
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 11 December 2026, 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.
Please note, 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.
See how teachers have been using Access to Scripts
"An excellent service, we have used it to inform our teaching"
Take a look at the Access to Scripts case studies to see how a number of schools and colleges have been using this service to evaluate how their students performed in the exams, identify skills gaps, help tailor future teaching plans and to develop staff CPD.
If you're not happy with your students' results from the Summer exam series, you can take the following steps:
Please speak to your Exams Officer if you wish to proceed with a review of marking or moderation. Exams officers should contact their Centre Account Specialist on 0344 463 2535 if they require guidance or watch our post results video. All applications for reviews of marking or moderation must be submitted through Edexcel Online.
If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of a review of marking or moderation, you may wish to appeal against the decision. We will allow the head of centre (or designated member of the centre’s senior management team or examinations manager) 30 calendar days from the receipt of the outcome of the review of marking or moderation, during which an appeal may be lodged by filling in the form below. All appeals must be submitted by the entering centre.
We cannot accept appeals directly from candidates, their parents or other third parties acting on their behalf. The only exception to this is if private candidates are appealing directly without the support of the entering centre. There is further guidance on appeals on our website.
We have a dedicated web page for student post-results support. Please forward this link to your students where they can find information on the services for students.
Ofqual have released a set of classroom resources to help teachers, headteachers and their senior leadership teams explain GCSE and A level marking and grading to their students.
We’re delighted to be bringing back our face-to-face networking events this summer! There are many opportunities to attend, where you’ll have the chance to connect with colleagues from local centres, exchange best practice, and delve into essential quality assurance themes for the coming year. Join your regional Vocational Quality Assurance Manager and Curriculum Development Manager to gain insights on:
Please note, bookings are to be made by Quality Nominees. Additional bookings for other staff members in your centre will be moved to a waiting list.
06 October 2026 at 16:30 - 17:30 GM
This session is aimed at teachers in England only preparing to deliver the BTEC National (2025) in Applied Science. This is a repeat of sessions which have run under the same title in 2025/26.
This live session will meet the following objectives:
The training provides a general run through of internal and external assessment. These areas are covered in greater detail in our BTEC National (2025) ‘Getting Ready to Assess Internal Units’ and ‘Preparing Your Learners for External Assessment’ events. These live events will be available during the 2026/27 academic year and beyond. Please be aware that this event will be recorded and may be shared publicly.
20 October 2026 at 16:30 - 18:00 GMT
These events, and the qualifications covered, are suitable for CENTRES IN ENGLAND ONLY. Please note: This event will cover a minimum of one mandatory unit plus other units where applicable.
Delegates will:
Address common issues and frequently asked questions. Pearson has reviewed the format and content of all its training events to ensure the security of its examinations. Please be aware that this event will be recorded and may be shared publicly.
03 November 2026 at 16:30 - 18:00 GMT
During this session you will:
Please be aware that this training is for ENGLAND CENTRES ONLY. You can register for the event from the training page or the events page.
Live events and on demand training for T levels are all accessible from our website which is regularly updated.
We also provide centre-based training opportunities. If this is something you would like to explore, please visit our training page below.
If you deliver BTEC qualifications, a range of training and support is available to help you prepare for the year ahead, including:
Now is a great time to explore the available support and plan for the upcoming year.
Join our upcoming Digital Assessment Plan (DAP) training session, designed specifically for UK BTEC centre staff including Quality Nominees, Lead Internal Verifiers and Assessors.
This session will provide a clear and practical overview of the DAP, including its purpose and the benefits it brings to centres.
Participants will explore which qualifications are in scope, learn how to access and navigate the DAP, and gain hands-on insight into key features of the centre dashboard through a guided walkthrough.
We will also outline key deadlines and milestones to support effective planning and submission, alongside dedicated time to address common questions and signpost available support and resources.
The live events below will be held online via our 'Zoom' training platform.
To reserve your place, please follow the session link to complete the registration form.
An email will be sent to confirm your booking and will include a link for you to add the meeting to your calendar.
If you missed any training, or would simply like a refresher, you could catch up on past training on each A level, GCSE and BTEC qualification page. These are available in the ‘Teaching and learning materials’ section. Recent additions from training this year include:
You can also visit our Professional Development Academy for GCSE and A level qualifications. This includes access to pre‑recorded training, such as New to Edexcel, as well as the option to book onto upcoming GCSE and A level training events.
Find out more in our Pearson Professional Development Guide (page 8 for science).
We already released a new set of exemplar materials to support your delivery of A level Chemistry and Physics. We now have exemplar materials available for A level Biology A and B too.
The exemplars include student responses to questions from the summer 2025 exam series, alongside examiner comments explaining how the mark scheme has been applied and how marks have been awarded. Visit the qualification pages, to download the materials.
Pearson are delighted to be offering the T Level Technical Qualification in Science from September 2026. The specification has now been published along with sample assessment materials.
Keep up to date with the latest news via our T level updates.
Sign up got the T-Level Updates
Other useful links are provided below.
We also address frequently asked questions on T levels which will help you to understand delivery and assessment.
Sometimes key documents require minor updates. When this occurs a summary of the changes is provided towards the beginning of the document to help centres identify what’s new. Please check you are using the latest versions of our documents. All documents are available on the qualification page with convenient links to selected documents provided below.
Find answers to frequently asked questions on the AAQ Applied Science qualification in our dedicated news update. This page will be reviewed regularly to include new questions from teachers.
If your students took any exams in the May/June 2025 series, please share your experience. Your feedback helps us understand what’s working well and where we can improve, so we can give your students the best possible exam experience.
We’ll share your feedback with senior examiners and subject teams to shape future papers and improve assessments.
Please take a few minutes to complete the survey. Thank you for your support!
Ofqual has launched a podcast for teachers and school leaders.
'Can I Just Qualify That?' will be built around conversations that matter and advice you can use. The first few episodes will cover everything from qualification reform and how GCSE and A level grading works, to helpful tips for exam season, results days, and cyber security.
Episode one dropped on Thursday 4 June on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Amazon Music.
Subscribe to Ofqual's YouTube channel now so you don't miss it.
Ofqual are seeking views on proposals to improve 16 to 19 performance measures. This consultation closes at 11:59 pm on 21 July 2026.
The government will introduce new Level 2 and Level 3 qualifications in England, including Foundation Certificates, Occupational Certificates and V Levels.
We've reviewed post-16 Level 2 and 3 BTEC availability across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, extending many current qualifications to help centres plan with confidence. The DfE have published a full Implementation Plan. Visit our website for an annual overview of each tranche, and download your guide to funding and support.
Use the funding guide to see the latest qualification availability and funding positions:
Get involved with the development of new qualification.
If you’d like to be involved in the development of our future qualifications through this reform period, let us know. We rely on your expertise and experience to make sure our qualifications suit the needs of you and your learners.
We provide multiple pages to update you on reforms and current curriculum developments.
Hello colleagues,
Welcome to your July update for teachers of International Science qualifications! Most of you will be looking forward to a holiday, or already on one - I hope this brings much deserved rest and relaxation! The focus of this update is on preparing for results days in August - see below for a range of useful resources and guidance. We also have an opportunity for teachers of our IAL Science courses to get involved in consultation on improvements to these.
As ever, don't hesitate to get in touch if I can help in any way - why not book a Teams call with me (follow the link below) if it would be helpful to talk something over?
Best wishes,
Tim Lawrence
Pearson Edexcel Subject Advisor for International Science Qualifications
