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.
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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.
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.
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.
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Yes. In response to centre demand, OCR will be publishing past papers for live specifications on the website. These will be free of charge. Question papers from the latest series will be available to download from OCR Interchange only.
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.
Schemes of work and lesson plans can be downloaded for each qualifcation. The materials are available in PDF format, and Word format. Teachers can adapt the materials for their own use.
Yes, the A* grade is calculated arithmetically based on the units used for aggregation, irrespective of whether or not they are re-sits.
Do you have a question that is not covered here and needs subject specialist knowledge? If so please get in touch with our Customer Contact Centre.