Transforming assessment at Malvern College Qingdao with Modular International GCSEs

The school offers Pearson Edexcel modular International GCSEs in a range of subjects to their Year 10 and Year 11 students and are seeing clear benefits across the Malvern College Qingdao school community, for students, teachers and their examinations team.

About Malvern College Qingdao

Since opening in 2012, the school has grown into a vibrant and ambitious school community of around 1,000 students from Year 7 to Year 13, supported by 160 educators and a total staff of approximately 350.

“What makes Malvern College Qingdao distinctive,” explains Wenbin, “is our commitment to combining academic excellence with a genuinely international, future-focused education. As a boarding school, we place great importance not only on academic achievement, but also on developing confident, well-rounded young people with the character, independence and perspective to succeed in a changing world.”

The school offers British International GCSEs and International A Levels in a broad range of subjects, from STEM and humanities to business and the creative arts. At the heart of their approach is a belief that students thrive when high standards are matched by strong support, broad opportunity and clear pathways for success.

Flexible assessment supporting student progress

Wenbin explains that the school’s decision to introduce Modular International GCSEs was a strategic one, shaped both by discussions with the Pearson Edexcel China team and by their own review of what would best support student progress at Malvern College Qingdao.

“We were actively looking for an assessment model that could maintain academic rigour while offering greater flexibility, clearer progress points and better support for student wellbeing,” she says.

The modular route stood out to Wenbin and her team for several reasons. First, it allows assessment to be spread across the course rather than concentrated in one high stakes end point, which helps reduce pressure and enables students to build confidence step by step.

Second, it offers greater flexibility for a diverse student body, giving students more opportunities to progress in ways that reflect their strengths and interests.

Third, the feedback after each module provides timely external evidence of progress, helping both students and teachers reflect, adjust and respond much earlier in the learning journey.

“Finally,” Wenbin adds, “In our context, families value visible milestones and a clear sense of progress, so the modular model also offers parents greater reassurance and transparency as their children move through the International GCSE pathway.”

A dual approach for Year 10 and 11

For the May/June 2025 series, Wenbin and her team at Malvern College Qingdao implemented a dual approach to assessment. Their Year 11 students followed the linear approach with exams in May/June and the option of re-sits in November, whereas their Year 10 students followed the modular approach, sitting Unit 1 papers in May/June, with the option of Unit 1 re-sits in November of Year 11. They will then sit Unit 2 papers in May/June of Year 11 with the option of Unit 1 re-sits in the November – see the illustration below.  

The benefits of a modular assessment route

The introduction of modular Pearson International GCSEs has created clear benefits across the Malvern College Qingdao school community, particularly for students, teachers and their examinations team.

A reduction in student anxiety

Wenbin explains, “For students, the most immediate benefit has been a reduction in anxiety. By breaking assessments into more manageable stages, students no longer feel that everything depends on one final examination period. Instead, they can focus on one module at a time, which has made the overall experience feel more achievable and has helped build confidence along the way. The regular feedback after each module has also been highly motivating, giving students a clearer sense of progress and encouraging them to take greater ownership of their learning.”

Teachers can clearly see where support is needed

“For teachers, the modular route has provided much more useful insights during the course itself. Rather than waiting until the end of the programme, teachers can see more clearly where students are progressing well and where additional support may be needed. This has allowed our staff to adapt their teaching more responsively, set clearer targets and intervene earlier when gaps begin to emerge. It has also supported more focused professional conversations around teaching and learning,” she adds.

Greater flexibility for exam officers

Wenbin continues, “For our examinations team, the modular structure has brought greater flexibility in planning and administration. With assessment spread across different windows, the workload is more manageable than when everything is concentrated in a single period. At the same time, it has given school leaders a clearer picture of student performance over time, helping us make better-informed decisions about support, curriculum delivery and next steps.”

Overall, Wenbin says the modular route has helped the school create a more responsive, supportive and student-centred assessment culture.  

Careful planning ensured a successful transition

As with any new model, there were challenges in the early stages as the school introduced modular assessment. The main shift was moving from a single May/June examination cycle to working across multiple assessment windows, including October/November.

“That required more careful planning across the school and closer coordination to ensure that students, teachers and their examinations team were fully prepared. One particular consideration was that some younger students were now encountering external examinations earlier in their school journey. We recognised that this would require the right balance of challenge and support, both academically and emotionally.” Wenbin explains.

She continues, “We addressed this in a very deliberate way. First, we took a subject-specific approach, introducing the modular route in areas such as STEM and business-related subjects where the structure was a natural fit, while keeping subjects such as History on a linear route for the time being because of the different language and assessment demands involved. Second, we strengthened internal preparation by ensuring that teaching, mock assessments and student support were all more closely aligned to the rhythm and expectations of the modular examination model.”

Overall, the transition required thoughtful planning, but it also helped Wenbin and her team become more intentional in how they prepare and support students throughout their International GCSE journey.

Managing student and parent communications

Clear communication was essential to making the transition to the modular route successful at Malvern College Qingdao. Wenbin and her team recognised early on that, for a new assessment model to work well, both parents and students needed to understand not only how it worked, but also why the school believed it would benefit them.

“With parents, our focus was on clarity, transparency and trust,” Wenbin explains.

“We communicated early and consistently, explaining how the modular route would give students clearer progress points, reduce the pressure of a single end-of-course examination period, and provide more opportunities for students to build confidence over time. In our context, parents place great value on visible progress and academic reassurance, so it was important that they could see this was a thoughtful decision designed to support both performance and wellbeing.”

With students, the priority was confidence. Wenbin and her team used assemblies and briefing sessions to explain the modular structure, timelines and expectations clearly, so that students understood what the journey would look like and felt supported throughout it. Once they could see the pathway in a clear and manageable way, Wenbin says the modular route felt much less daunting and much more achievable.

Overall, strong communication helped create trust across the school community and played an important role in ensuring a smooth transition to modular assessments.

Professional, responsive and practical support from Pearson

Wenbin describes the school’s experience with the Pearson Edexcel China team as very positive.

“We found the onboarding process and technical support to be professional, responsive and practical, which gave us confidence as we introduced a model that was new for many schools.”

“What worked especially well was the clarity of the technical briefings and the administrative guidance,” she continues. “These sessions helped our staff manage the operational side of the transition smoothly, and the local team was always available to answer questions and clarify the differences between the various modular routes.

Wenbin says “Overall, we felt well supported throughout the process, and with additional resources – such as modular-specific curriculum mapping resources to help schools sequence and organise teaching within the new structure, benchmarking data with comparative insights into modular and linear cohorts, and official modular-style mock resources particularly for schools introducing the model to younger students in Year 10 – the onboarding experience could become even stronger for schools adopting the modular route in future.”

Student feedback to modular International GCSEs

“Our students, particularly our Year 10 cohort, have responded very positively to the modular route,” says Wenbin.

“As well as a reduction in exam anxiety, we have seen a clear increase in motivation and ownership of learning. Because students receive results and feedback earlier, they are able to see their progress more clearly and reflect on what they need to do next. That sense of early achievement has been very powerful. Once students experience success in one module, they often approach the next with greater focus, confidence and commitment. In that sense, the modular route has encouraged them to become more active, self-aware and engaged learners.”

Overall, students have responded not only with greater confidence, but also with a stronger sense of control over their own academic journey.

What’s next for the school?

“Our next step is to deepen and refine the modular framework we have already introduced, while remaining open to thoughtful expansion where it will genuinely benefit students,” explains Wenbin. “Our focus is not on expanding the model for its own sake, but on using it more effectively and more intentionally to support student success.”

Having already established strong use of the modular route in subjects such as Mathematics, Science and Economics, Wenbin and her team will continue to strengthen practice in those areas. At the same time, they see potential to extend the modular route into additional subjects in the future, where the structure is educationally appropriate and where it can add real value for students.

“In terms of student participation, we expect the number of students following the modular route to grow gradually as confidence in the model continues to build. However, our aim is not simply to increase numbers, but to ensure that the right students are matched to the right opportunities at the right time,” says Wenbin.

“Looking ahead, our goal is to ensure that the modular route remains a tool for empowerment rather than pressure. That means continuing to build an assessment pathway that is both ambitious and supportive, while expanding carefully in ways that reflect the needs of different learners and subjects.”

Advice for other schools considering the modular route

Wenbin advises other international schools to see the modular route “not simply as an exam change, but as an opportunity to rethink how you support student progress throughout the course.”

“First, be very clear about your purpose. For us, the value of the modular route was not just greater flexibility, but the ability to give students earlier feedback, reduce end-of-course pressure and create a more manageable assessment journey.

Second, start strategically. Not every subject needs to move to a modular route at the same pace, so it is important to think carefully about where the model is the best fit and where it will have the greatest benefit for students.

Third, make full use of the feedback and progress data the model provides. One of the greatest strengths of the modular route is that it gives schools earlier visibility into how students are doing. If that insight is used well, teachers can adapt more quickly, intervene earlier and support students more effectively.

Finally, keep communication and student wellbeing at the centre. When parents and students understand the structure clearly, and when the school uses the model to build confidence rather than pressure, the modular route can become a very powerful tool for both academic progress and student growth.”

Overall, her advice for other schools is to approach the modular route thoughtfully, communicate it clearly, and always keep the focus on what will best help your students succeed.