GCSE and GCE ICT Qualifications

01/12/2015

Withdrawal of GCSE and GCE ICT Qualifications from September 2018

We have been working with the Department for Education (DfE), Ofqual, and other stakeholders (awarding organisations, industries, subject associations, teachers and examiners) over the past ten months to develop subject content for reformed IT qualifications that meets Ofqual’s subject development criteria and five principles.  Despite the collective best efforts of all awarding organisations and stakeholders, we have not been successful in meeting the DfE and Ofqual’s requirements.  

On 3 November 2015 the DfE announced that GCSE and A level ICT qualifications will not be redeveloped for first teaching in 2017, and that the subject will no longer be offered at GCSE or A level after current courses finish in Summer 2018. Details are available in the Further Additional GCSE and A level Content Consultation document (page 11). The DfE have said that the reformed Computer Science GCSE and A levels provide a strong foundation for further academic and vocational study, and for employment. Ministers have therefore taken the decision not to approve GCSEs and A levels in what they regard as a similar subject area.

The following OCR GCSE and A Level ICT qualifications are affected by this decision:

We understand this is very disappointing and this is not the outcome which we wanted. If you currently offer our GCSE, AS and A Level ICT qualifications please be assured that we will continue to support you until the final award date in 2018, and to support your transition to a suitable alternative qualification. Current Year 9 GCSE ICT students and current Year 11 A Level ICT students will be the last teaching group for June 2018 exams. We are committed to offering a wide range of ICT qualifications to enable your learners to achieve their aspirations of pursuing ICT related further education and careers. 

We have a wide range of alternative ICT courses available to schools and colleges, in the form of our Cambridge Nationals and Cambridge Technicals suites. These ICT courses can be viewed on our website. Many of these vocational qualifications will contribute to key stage 4 and 5 performance measures. We've included details below of some of our vocational qualifications:

• OCR Cambridge Nationals Certificate in ICT Level 1/2 (J810). Draft Key Stage 4 Performance Tables for 2018 will be issued by the DfE in December 2015 and we are confident that Cambridge Nationals ICT will be recognised. 
• OCR Cambridge Nationals Certificate in Creative iMedia Level 1/2 (J817). Already recognised in the 2017 Performance Tables, the DfE will publish 2018 Performance Table later this year. We expect that this qualification will still be recognised. 
• OCR Cambridge Technicals in IT Level 3 Certificate (GLH 180)/Extended Certificate (GLH 360)/Introductory Diploma (GLH 360)/Foundation Diploma (GLH 540)/Diploma (GLH 720) – 05838-05842 (2016 suite).This qualification suite has a life span of a minimum of 5 years. The Cambridge Technicals are positioned across the ‘applied general’ and ‘tech level’ categories outlined in the DfE’s technical guidance and are recognised for UCAS tariff points. 
• OCR Cambridge Technicals in Digital Media Level 3 Certificate (GLH 180)/Extended Certificate (GLH 360)/Foundation Diploma (GLH 540)/Diploma (GLH 720) – 05843-05846 (2016 suite). This qualification suite has a life span of a minimum of 5 years. The Cambridge Technicals are positioned across the ‘applied general’ and ‘tech level’ categories outlined in the DfE’s technical guidance and are recognised for UCAS tariff points.
  

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

Qualifications

• ICT - J461, J061 (from 2012)
• ICT - H117, H517
• ICT (applied) - H115, H315, H515, H715