Huge numbers of teachers and students in the UK will be familiar with the exam board Edexcel.
One of the largest boards in the UK alongside AQA, it is most well-known for setting and marking GCSEs, A levels and International GCSEs and A levels - but it also offers vocational qualifications, including National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) and Functional Skills.
What is Edexcel?
Owned by educational behemoth Pearson Plc, Edexcel is the only privately owned exam board in the UK.
Led by chief executive Omar Abbosh, Pearson made £573 million profit in 2023 - a 31 per cent increase on the previous year.
How long has Edexcel been around?
The history of Edexcel began in 1836, when a royal charter gave the University of London its first powers to conduct exams and confer degrees on its students.
The board as we know it was formed in 1996, after the merger of the Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) and the University of London Examinations and Assessment Council (ULEAC), which oversaw GCSEs and A levels.
In 2003, Pearson acquired a 75 per cent stake in Edexcel, before taking over the remaining 25 per cent in 2005.
Edexcel now awards under the name Pearson Edexcel.
What exams and subjects does Edexcel cover?
Edexcel says it offers GCSEs in more than 40 subjects, “ranging from art and design to Urdu”, including core subjects such as English, maths and science.
The exam board also offers an array of Btec vocational qualifications at varying levels, along with workplace-related NVQs in everything from food and beverage service to forklift truck operations.
Edexcel International offers international GCSEs in 37 subjects and international A levels in 21 subjects.
What has Edexcel said about digital exams?
Edexcel previously announced that it was planning to give GCSE students the option to take all of its exams online by 2030.
It was intending to introduce digital exams for GCSE English language and literature in the summer of 2025, but it subsequently announced that this introduction would be delayed by at least a year.
Edexcel has had an on-screen component in its GCSE computer science exams since 2022.
Has Edexcel been involved in any recent controversy?
Probably the most high-profile controversy involving an Edexcel exam paper occurred in 2019, when the board withheld the exam results of 78 students after an A-level maths paper was leaked online.
The security breach, which happened before tens of thousands of students sat an Edexcel maths paper, prompted uproar among candidates who feared they would be at an unfair disadvantage.
Following an investigation, the exam board confirmed that the entire paper had been shared by a number of students on a closed social media network before the exam was sat.
Along with other boards, Edexcel was caught up in another controversy in 2019 when it was revealed that it was possible to pass the new specification maths A level with a mark of only 14 per cent.
There have been concerns in recent years about the difficulty of questions in some Edexcel maths papers, with one GCSE question described as “sadistic” by students in 2023.
Questions have also been raised in the past about Edexcel’s status as a profit-making company and the fact that owner Pearson publishes textbooks and resources to support the exams. Concerns were voiced that the profit motive might mean it does not always work in the interests of young people.
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