News

We'd like to invite our FE and skills partners to participate in this survey about how you are managing e-assessment.

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From September, A level Economics students will be required to learn about the global financial crisis for the first time.

They will learn about:

• factors that contributed to the crisis (including moral hazard, speculation and market bubbles)
• the role of banking regulation 
• monetary and fiscal policy instruments, including quantitative easing
• policy responses to the crisis, comparing and contrasting these with policy responses to the Great Depression of 1929.

Students of Pearson'€™s Edexcel syllabus will also study the use of 'national wellbeing' and '€˜national happiness' as measures of economic growth for the first time. They will compare and contrast these measures of economic performance with more traditional methods, exploring the limitations of both in comparing living standards between countries and over time.

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On 7 April 2015, we published our new, draft specification for Edexcel History GCSE, to be taught in schools from September 2016.

Pearson will be offering a single, unified specification, designed to offer maximum topic choice and flexibility for teachers across three exam papers.

The new course will include topics that teachers will know and recognise to choose from, such as ‘Russia and the Soviet Union (1917-41)’, ‘Weimar and Nazi Germany (1918-39) and ‘The American West, c1835-c1895’, as well as new topics, including:

• Spain and the ‘New World’ (1490-1555)
• British America: Empire and Revolution (1713-83)
• Conflict in the Middle East (1945-95)
• The reigns of King Richard I and King John (1189-1216).

The new requirement for a study of the ‘historic environment’ has been embedded within the thematic studies paper, so teachers can choose from:

• Victorian London’s East End, under ‘Whitechapel: crime and policing (1870-1900)’ in the Crime and Punishment through time thematic study
• Conditions in which the British wounded were cared for on the Western Front, under ‘The British sector of the Western Front: surgery and treatment (1914-18)’ in the Medicine through time thematic study
• Life in London during the Blitz, under ‘London and the Second World War (1939-45)’ in the Warfare through time thematic study.

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Statistics show large increases in students studying vocational qualifications in subjects most critical for UK economy.

Today, Pearson publishes entry and achievement data for students completing level 2 (First) and level 3 (National) BTEC qualifications between 1 September 2013 and 31 August 2014.

The statistics show that students are choosing to study subjects identified as the most important for economic growth, revealing a 17% rise in level 3 (sixth form) students taking STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) focused BTECs, with an increase of students at level 3 of 27% taking Applied Science, 12% taking ICT and 17% taking Engineering. A recent report by the CBI outlined how a healthy supply of STEM-skilled employees at all levels is required for a flourishing UK economy and rising living standards[1].

Bucking the trend that sees sciences as traditionally 'male' subjects, there was a big increase of 27% in girls taking this subject. As a result, more girls (54%) than boys (46%) gained Applied Science level 3 BTECs this year.

ICT and Engineering remain male-dominated subjects. 83% of students taking ICT at level 3 are male and so are 95% of those taking Engineering at level 3. Nevertheless, the percentage of female students taking these subjects has increased since last year by 11% for ICT and 53% for Engineering.

The girls that do take these subjects also out-perform their male peers:

• 25% of girls who took an Applied Science level 3 BTEC got the highest grade of a D*, compared to 14% of boys
• 25% of girls who took an Engineering level 3 BTEC got the highest grade of a D*, compared to 14% of boys 
• 36% of girls who took an ICT Level 3 BTEC got the highest grade of a D*, compared to 21% of boys.

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After Ofqual’s announcement that GCSEs will be graded 1 to 9, Lesley Davies, vice president of quality, standards and research at Pearson, had this to say.

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