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Welcome to this week’s Exams Officer Update. 

As always, our customer support portal offers a wide range of articles to support you in your day to day activities. As we begin to look ahead to the summer exam period, you may find our Entries and Registrations and Exam Administration articles useful.

We will be sharing more 'essential information' articles with you in future editions of this update.
Our next live online event will be 14 March 2024 at 2 p.m. You can register here if you'd like to attend.

Throughout the event, we will walk you through the latest news, updates, and upcoming processes for the weeks ahead, providing you with the opportunity to pose any questions you may have. You can view recordings of previous events on our Pearson Development Hub.
Date Description
6 March Deadline to submit Special Considerations requests
BTEC L2 Technicals
March 2024
20 March Restricted release of results to centres
BTEC Firsts & Nationals
January 2024
21 March Release of results to candidates
BTEC Firsts & Nationals
January 2024
22 March* Deadline to make entries
BTEC Firsts, Nationals, Tech Award 2017, Technicals
June 2024
            *Learners awaiting results from January or February will be subject to later entry deadlines
Now we have concluded the BTEC Cohort Declaration checkpoint, the next activity we are looking towards is the 22 March entry deadline. At the beginning of March we will share with you a list of your learners where an external assessment entry needs to be made so that we can deliver an overall qualification result in summer.

We understand that you may be making some entries later if you are waiting for external assessment results from January or February. There are later entry deadlines for these learners, and you can find them in our key dates.

We'll be running some webinars in March to help you make the most of this data, and will be in touch nearer the time to offer support and guidance.

In the meantime, you can explore the on demand training we have in the Pearson development hub for making external assessment entries.

The best place to stay up to date, is through our teaching, learning and assessment page. Bookmark this and look out for updated FAQs shortly.
We have released a new version of our Onscreen Testing Platform (POP).  

The new version numbers are.  
  • 7.0.5985.2 - Pearson Offline Platform (PAD)  
  • 7.0.5986.2 - LAN (Exam Centre Service, Administrator/Invigilator Dashboard, Test Player)
The update is not mandatory, but we do recommend you update as soon as it is convenient.  
Guidance on how to upgrade LAN can be found
here.  
For Offline (PAD), you simply need to uninstall and reinstall the software. The latest version can be downloaded from our
support portal.   
The latest module in our BTEC exams officer training series is now available on the Pearson Development Hub.

  • BTEC Bitesize Module 7: BTEC Exam Administration (23/24)
    This module covers where to order stationery materials, what materials we will send you for any upcoming exams and what to do if you don't receive these materials 

We sent our monthly BTEC Tech Awards newsletter last week, featuring details on the January series, moderator reports, where to access PSAs and external assessment materials for May/June, and much more.

If you or any colleagues would like to receive these updates, sign up to the mailing list.

Our BTEC Tech Awards 2022 support index is designed to support you over the academic year. 

The index contains direct links on support covering the following topics:
  • Registration & Entry processes
  • Access Arrangements & Modified Papers
  • Internal Assessment & Learner Work Transfer (LWT)
  • Quality Assurance
  • Results
  • Certification
We'll add to this support throughout the year, so please bookmark the page to see our latest articles.
Date Description
6 March Restricted release of results to centres
Edexcel Award in Maths, Project Qualifications
January 2024
7 March Release of results to learners
Edexcel Award in Maths, Project Qualifications
January 2024
21 March Entry deadline
Project Qualifications, International GCSE
June 2024
Due to popular demand, we're running an additional Q&A webinar this month about our plans to offer GCSE English exams onscreen from summer 2025.* Join us at a webinar on 29 February where you can:
  • find out more about our onscreen plans for GCSE English Language, GCSE English Literature and GCSE English Language 2.0
  • see our onscreen exam platform in action with a live demo
  • ask our team your questions and hear what they have to say about the common myths surrounding onscreen exams.

We’re looking forward to a great conversation exploring how technology can open up more ways for students to best show what they know and can do. 

*Subject to Ofqual approval
Register here
Oral materials for Modern Foreign Languages and Pre-Release Material for GCE Music (9MU0/02) are due to be delivered to centres from Tuesday 19 March onwards. Tracking information will be available via Edexcel Online.  
On 2 February the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) published their updated JCQ guidance on AI Use in Assessments.

The guidance is designed to help students and teachers to complete NEAs, coursework and other internal assessments successfully, giving students the chance to demonstrate skills which cannot be assessed in exams.

Please do share the latest version of the guidance with senior leaders, teachers and assessors in your school or college. This guidance should inform school policies on AI use, so schools and colleges can provide staff and students with clear information.

A summary of the key updates is available on the JCQ website. They've also produced a poster for students on the use of AI and assessments and an information sheet for teachers along with PowerPoint presentations for teachers and students.

Read all the information on JCQ blog and download the updated guidance and support materials.

Models for use with summer 2024 Mathematics modified papers

Please be aware that we no longer automatically supply 3D models with the modified large print Maths papers.

Please note that these will still come as standard with all orders for UEB Grade 1 and Grade 2 braille. You do not need to order these if your candidate uses braille. 

If your centre has placed an order for modified large print papers for Maths, please complete this form to order your candidate 3D models.

Failure to respond will result in no models being sent to your centre.

If you require any further information regarding this, please contact the Modified Formats Team at additional_requirements@pearson.com.

For further information on modified papers, access to past modified papers and answers to FAQs, please go to the modified formats page on our website.
You can expect to start receiving question papers for the March series from Tuesday 6 February with attendance registers, labels and learner cards from Tuesday 13 February.

The Yellow Label Service will be in place for this series for centres in England to return scripts.

If you require tracking information, please contact us via the Pearson support portal
We introduced app-based multi-factor authentication for all users of Edexcel Online in December, to protect your data and maintain the integrity of our assessments. This replaced the existing web based multi-factor authentication, and became mandatory on 5 December. All users will require access to a smart phone device to receive a verification code to access Edexcel Online.

Additional guidance on using app based MFA to access the Pearson Portal can be found in the Pearson Portal Authenticator support article.

Based on feedback received since this was launched we have also created a short 'Did you know?' graphic to answer some of your immediate questions.

Please share this information with your teaching and IT staff and anyone else who may have missed these communications but needs to access Pearson systems.

If you are running examinations in 2024, it is important for you to stay up to date with the official exam regulations.

The JCQ have published the 2023/24 version of their Instructions for Conducting Examinations (ICE) document, which you can download from their website or from our support article collecting all regulatory documents, including the JCQ ICE, BTEC ICEA and general regulations.
We want to ensure you have all the help and support you need at your fingertips; that’s why we’ve got a library of support articles hosted on our Customer Support Portal. Each article contains answers, detailed information, step-by-step guides, instructional videos, and general advice. Articles require no special access, are easily searchable by keywords in their title, and are available 24/7, 365 days a year. And for good measure, we also have the portal user guide.

Take a look at our short video that explains more about our support portal, the information you can find and the further benefits it provides. 

Don't forget we have a dedicated Pearson Exams Officer Support page on Facebook. This provides you with a quick and convenient way to stay up to date with our latest news and live updates from the team.

Important and informative announcements will be posted on the page daily and messages will be monitored 8am to 5pm, Monday to Friday by Charlie, Emma and Seren; our dedicated Social Media Team. Message them with for help with your queries throughout your working day.
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