Reform update: Changes to GCSEs, AS and A Levels in England from September 2016

Details of important changes to the provision of GCSEs, AS and A Levels from September 2016 in England

This notice has been updated to include details of our redeveloped Entry Level Certificates, available for first teaching from September 2016.

This September sees the launch of the second tranche of reformed GCSE (9–1), AS and A Levels qualifications. If your centre is teaching a two-year GCSE, AS or A Level, or a one-year AS Level course in the 16/17 academic year in any of the tranche 2 subjects, you need to be teaching the new reformed specifications or alternative qualifications.

The following provides an overview of the changes for schools, colleges and training providers. Separate updates have been produced for maintained sector providers in Northern Ireland and Wales. These are available on the subject information update page of the OCR website.

What is changing from September 2016?

Subjects that are changing from September 2016 are:

We have created the Qual Change Planner, an online tool designed to support schools and colleges in changing from the qualification currently being delivered to one of our new reformed qualifications or alternative provision. You can search a current qualification by subject or entry code to find out more about final assessment opportunities and replacement qualifications. The Qual Change Planner is available on the GCSE and A level reform pages of the OCR website.

Alternatively, information on replacement provision for subjects changing from September 2016 and assessment availability for the current qualifications is provided in the 'Reformed qualifications update: Changes to GCSEs, AS and A Levels in England from September 2016' document, below.

Our aim is to help you at every stage of the introduction of a new specification and we’re working hard to provide a practical package of support in close consultation with teachers and other experts. To find out more about our resources and support please visit the qualification pages for the new reformed qualifications on the OCR website.

For the latest news and guidance on the reform of general qualifications and the GCSEs, AS and A Levels we are developing for first teach in September 2017, please visit our dedicated GCSE and A level reform pages.

We have also redeveloped nine of our Entry Level Certificates for first teaching from September 2016 and first assessment in summer 2017. The redeveloped Entry Levels have been designed to provide a stepping stone to our new GCSE (9–1) qualifications, or can be used independently depending on your learners’ needs. You can find information on all of our new Entry Levels, including our specifications and information on our assessment materials, on the qualification pages.

If you have any other queries about this notice, please call our Customer Contact Centre on 01223 553998 or email general.qualifications@ocr.org.uk

Reformed qualifications update: Changes to GCSEs, AS and A Levels in England from September 2016