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Debbie Foulkes (Accounting, Business, Commerce and Economics Product Manager, Pearson) interview
We have recently launched a new suite of Edexcel International GCSE (9-1) qualifications, available
for first teaching in September 2017.
This video has been created to talk you through some of the key features of our new Accounting,
Business, Commerce and Economics qualifications.
Before we go into detail about the changes we have made to the new Business qualifications,
I'd like to give you a quick overview of some of the key changes we've made across the whole
suite of Edexcel International GCSE (9-1) qualifications:
The first point to highlight is that we have introduced a new 9-1 grading scale: With 9
as the top grade, to ensure we're really differentiating top performing students and also providing
greater differentiation in the middle of the range.
The second point to note is that the qualifications are now even more relevant for international
learners: With more international content and international business case studies.
The third point to note is that we have ensured that our new qualifications allow progression
onto further study. Developed with the help of teachers and higher education representatives,
they provide seamless progression to further study, including A levels and beyond. They
are also fully comparable with the new UK GCSEs in terms of the content, level of demand
and assessment standards.
Colin Leith (Edexcel Business and Economics Subject Advisor, Pearson)
So why choose an Edexcel International GCSE (9-1) Business and Finance qualification?
There are three key things I would like to highlight.
The first is the research we have undertaken. Over the past 18 months we've spoken to teachers
and universities overseas and in the UK, to get their feedback on our specifications and
on our assessment. From this feedback, we have built a more modern specification in
each case, with up-to-date content that your students should find engaging.
Using the feedback, we've changed how our assessment works. We now have two papers in
each subject. Each paper is ramped, by which I mean, students face easier questions at
the start of the paper and build up to high-tariff, more challenging questions at the end of the
paper.
We've also used a consistent taxonomy, this means that the command words we use will always
mean the same thing in each subject.
Bernadette Newport (Edexcel Finance and Accounting Subject Advisor, Pearson)
So you may ask, why should you choose the Edexcel International GCSE (9-1) Accounting?
We've listened to you and we actually believe that we've created a qualification that is
going to be engaging and accessible to your students.
One of the important things with Accounting today is that students need to be able to
apply that accounting knowledge in an international setting. So part of that understanding is
that they must be able to use international accounting standards terminology.
The types of questions they will have in that exam could be multiple choice, it could be
short answer, but one of the things that we will be doing is actually allowing them to
produce financial statements where they're connected to a case study. This is something
new that we have developed for this qualification.
Paper 1: Introduction to Bookkeeping and Accounting Paper 2: Financial Statements
External assessment (2 hours). 67% of total marks.
The paper is divided into 2 sections: Topic 1: The accounting environment.
Topic 2: Introduction to bookkeeping. Topic 3: Introduction to control processes.
Paper 2 is worth 33% of the total marks and is assessed by a 1 hour, 15 minute exam. The
exam is divided into 2 multi-part questions and students must study the preparation of
financial statements and Accounting for end of period adjustments topics. The qualification
is available to overseas students.
We're really excited about the new textbook we're offering. We think that you as teachers
and you as students are going to love it.
Colin Leith (Edexcel Business and Economics Subject Advisor, Pearson)
So why choose the Edexcel International GCSE (9-1) Business qualification?
The specification content is set out in a similar way to the current specification.
We think we have made the design of the specification a little clearer, so that it is easier to
see what you have to teach. But the topics are very similar, so you'll still be able
to use many of the lessons that you are using at the moment.
One or two things have been brought up to date, for example, the introduction of e-commerce
in the marketing section.
With regard to the question papers, the two papers are identical in length and in design.
In the first paper, the context will be a small business and in the second paper, a
larger business. It is in this second paper that students will be able to recognise some
of these global brands that they encounter on a day-to-day basis in their personal lives.
Moving on to talk about the International GCSE in Commerce qualification.
You'll see from the table that there are 2 papers and this is a change to the current
specification.
Paper 1 and 2 paper 2 are identical in structure and in time, both worth 80 marks in 90 minutes.
Paper 1 looks at commercial operations and paper 2 looks at activities that facilitate
commercial operations - and so students will have these two aspects of commerce assessed
separately.
Consistent Command Word taxonomy and mark tariff: This diagram on screen shows that
we have used a consistent taxonomy of command words that have been carefully defined and
are used in the assessment. Assessment objectives and number of marks allocated for each command
word are applied consistently across both papers.
Colin Leith (Edexcel Business and Economics Subject Advisor, Pearson)
And finally we come to our Edexcel International GCSE (9-1) in Economics.
You'll see that the content is very familiar and similar to the content of our current
international GCSE.
Paper 1 will look at microeconomics and paper 2 will look at macroeconomics.
The two papers are equally weighted and also are designed in the same way, so that students
will face a similar structure and similar command words on both papers 1 and 2.
The command words will be consistent and students will know and recognise that a command word
is always associated with a particular mark tariff and this will help you as the teacher
because when you are preparing students for the skills they need to tackle these papers,
you will be able to reassure them that for example, a 12 mark evaluate question will
always require a similar type of response.
Colin Leith (Edexcel Business and Economics Subject Advisor, Pearson)
Question 1: Are Business and Commerce compatible subjects? The first thing to say is that these
subjects are not a forbidden combination. If you choose to teach these subjects, one
big advantage is that the command words used are identical in both subjects, so that the
skills you are teaching the students apply to both the Business and the Commerce qualification.
Chris Boor (Commissioning Editor, Global Schools, Pearson)
We've developed a new suite of teacher and learner resources designed specifically to
support the Edexcel International GCSE (9-1) Accounting, Business and Economics qualifications.
These resources include textbooks and digital support. They've been through a rigorous development
and review process and have been endorsed by Edexcel.
They include: a rich set of activities in every chapter
to support student progression; transferable skills, embedded throughout the
resources, and signposted explicitly, which supports their development;
and exam practice tests and exam style questions, to prepare students for the assessments.
Debbie Foulkes (Accounting, Business, Commerce and Economics Product Manager, Pearson)
Resources to support teachers to deliver the new Edexcel International GCSE (9-1) Accounting,
Business and Economics qualifications with confidence, continued
Our new Edexcel International GCSE (9-1) qualifications are supported by a wider range of teaching
and learning materials, resources and training. These include:
Getting Started Guides Schemes of Work
Marked student responses to sample assessment materials
Getting ready to teach events And an extra set of sample assessment materials,
which gives you 2 sets of exam papers per subject, for revision and practice.
It also features detailed exams analysis with ResultsPlus, our free online mock and actual
exam performance analysis tool that supports teachers to plan improvements in teaching
and learning, which drives attainment.
To find out more, please visit qualifications.pearson.com/edexcel-internationalgcse and download our Accounting, Business and Economics subject guide.
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