Pearson Edexcel GCSE Drama: Reviewing the 2025 Exams
ABOUT THIS COURSE
This in-depth course is designed to help teachers transform common mistakes from the 2025 Pearson Edexcel GCSE Drama exams into opportunities for growth and improvement. The course will provide valuable insights into student performance, highlight key areas of concern, and offer practical strategies to refine your teaching approach. Through expert-led sessions, you will explore ways to better prepare students for future exams, improve their written responses, and ensure they meet the demands of Pearson Edexcel GCSE Drama assessments.BENEFITS OF ATTENDING
- Gain a detailed understanding of key lessons from the 2025 exams
- Identify patterns in student performance and areas for improvement across practical and written elements
- Improve student responses to performance analysis, evaluations, and practical assessments
- Develop strategies to help students reflect more effectively on their work and performances
- Learn how to engage and support mixed-ability students in both written and practical aspects of the course
PROGRAMME
10.00am: Understanding the 2025 Exam Performance- Key takeaways from the 2025 exams – successes and areas for improvement
- Identifying patterns in student performance across both the written and practical elements of the exam
- Understanding common errors and misconceptions in student responses
- Developing a plan of action to refine teaching practices and improve student outcomes
10.45am: Break
11.00am: Mastering the Written Exam – Extended Responses
- How student responses compared to examiner expectations in the written exam
- Structuring high-quality answers that meet AO1, AO2, and AO3 requirements
- Teaching students how to analyse and evaluate plays, practitioners, and performances effectively
- Strategies to improve clarity, depth, and insight in extended written responses
11.45am: Improving Practical Performance and Devised Work
- Common challenges faced by students in practical and devised work
- Understanding how to strengthen students’ performance skills and their ability to reflect on and evaluate their work
- Strategies to improve students' ability to respond to the requirements of practical tasks
- Enhancing students' creativity, confidence, and ability to present their ideas effectively
12.30pm: Lunch
1.30pm: NEA Spotlight – Coursework and Performance Analysis
- Understanding grade boundaries for practical work and coursework analysis
- Addressing why students miss out on marks and how to help them overcome these challenges
- Supporting students in developing clear, structured, and insightful analysis of their own work and the work of others
- Teaching students how to reflect on their performance and apply feedback to improve
2.30pm: Break
2.40pm: Moving Forward – Maximising Success in 2026 and Beyond
- Embedding assessment objectives into lesson delivery to improve focus and exam preparation
- Skill-based teaching approaches to enhance student performance, analysis, and evaluation in drama
- Engaging activities that support mixed-ability students and address different aspects of the exam
- Action planning for continued success in future Pearson Edexcel GCSE Drama exams
3.30pm: Depart
GCSE - Code: T0363
Pearson Edexcel GCSE Drama: Reviewing the 2025 Exams
COURSE LEADER
Matt King-Sayce is a successful and experienced Director of Department, speaker, coach, examiner and educational leadership consultant with over two decades of experience in arts and cultural education. He has an NPQSL and an MSc in Educational Leadership and Management. He has led teams to achieve consistently outstanding results and high value added scores, which are above the national average.
He has worked extensively with teachers worldwide and organisations including Arts Council England as an advisor for Artsmark (he has just led his current establishment to achieve Artsmark Platinum), the delivery and implementation of Arts Award and the teaching, monitoring and assessment of Drama at all levels. He supports a number of universities with the delivery of their PGCE courses in the North West. He also leads his Local Cultural Education Partnership in North West England.
Course Brochure
