AS/A Level GCE (for first teaching in 2008) ICT - H117 H517

FAQs

Please find below the most frequently asked questions for this qualification. If you have a question that is not answered here or elsewhere on the website please contact the OCR Customer Contact Centre.

Your regional Customer Support Manager is on hand to provide continued support, advice and guidance on what is happening with A Levels from an OCR prospective. This can include, an overview of our assessment approach or signposting to support and training to help you progress with our new A levels. To arrange a support call or visit, please email 14-19alevels@ocr.org.uk.

A. Along with the changes stipulated by QCA, such as the reduction of units from six to four and the inclusion of stretch and challenge, we have taken this opportunity to bring this qualification up to date and clearly put the emphasis on business ICT skills rather than computing.
Although these changes have been made, the content has remained largely the same. Candidates will need to be able to apply their skills to specific contexts both at AS and A2. For example, the new unit 3 now has two sections. Section A consists of short questions, whereas section B are mainly essay-styled questions where candidates apply skills to scenarios.

A. Coursework remains the same - accounting for 40% of the overall A Level. The size of the coursework units has been reduced and the marks are now out of 80, rather than 120 marks as in the previous specification.

A. The new specification will have detailed Sample Assessment Materials on the two examinable units and there will be detailed information available on the guidelines for coursework. Schemes of Work will also be produced and Hodder will be producing materials to support this new specification.

A. Yes. In response to centre demand, OCR will be publishing past papers for live specifications on the OCR website. These will be free of charge. Question papers from the June 2008 series will be available to download from OCR Interchange only. Further details are available from OCR Interchange.

A. OCR is working in partnership with individual publishers for different subject groups. Comprehensive resources are being developed by these Publishing Partners and others to support the specification and complement the support available from OCR. For details of our partners view the support page.

A. Schemes of work and lesson plans can be downloaded from the OCR website. The materials are available in fixed PDF format, for reference purposes, and also in Word format, so that teachers can adapt the materials for their own use.

A. The schemes of work contain suggestions on time allocation, teaching activities and resources. The sample lesson plans provide specific ideas on delivery of a few of the topics for some unit options. Both resources are intended to offer teachers a range of practical delivery ideas that they can mould to suit their needs, and their students needs.