Decision
Pearson: Special conditions: May 2014
We have placed special conditions on Pearson to make sure its processes and procedures for new GCSEs, graded 9 to 1, work as intended.
Applies to England
Documents
Details
| Awarding organisation | Issue | Action taken | Case status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pearson Education Ltd (Pearson) | Development, delivery and award of GCSE (9 to 1) qualifications | Imposed special conditions (at recognition) | Open |
On 14 May 2014, we accepted Pearson’s application to be recognised for the new GCSE (9 to 1) qualifications.
At the same time, we decided to impose special conditions on Pearson for those qualifications. This is because:
- GCSE (9 to 1) qualifications are important qualifications: they will be used for the purposes of students moving to higher education and employment and for school league tables
- the new GCSEs are also fundamentally different from existing GCSE qualifications (graded A* to G) that Pearson currently provide
- as part of its application for recognition Pearson explained how it will implement the development, delivery and award of GCSE (9 to 1) qualifications (it’s ‘implementation plan’), but these processes and practices have not yet been fully tested in operation
- to maintain standards and public confidence in GCSEs, we want to closely monitor Pearson’s implementation plan and any changes to it
We will review these conditions on or before 1 October 2016, and will remove them when they are no longer necessary.