Following feedback from teachers and students, we have recently finished our review of AS and A Level Law. As a result, we are launching new, refreshed specifications (H018 and H418) for first teaching in 2020.

Our aim is to allow teachers to teach the content within the time available more easily. The new specifications also help teachers to know the key pieces of information to cover within each topic.

When you return to school in September, you must teach the new specifications. The H018 AS Level Law specification will be first examined in summer 2021 while the H418 A Level Law specification will be first examined in summer 2022.

The final assessment opportunity for H015 AS Level Law will be autumn 2020 while the final assessment opportunity for H415 A Level Law will be summer 2021. Students wishing to resit these qualifications after their final assessment opportunity will need to take the updated H018 or H418 qualification. 

What has changed?

1. We have removed some content to make the course more manageable for teachers and students.
2. We have reduced the marks available per question.
3. In the question papers, Questions 1 & 3 and 2 & 4 for the first two components are no longer guaranteed to be from the same topic.
4. A guidance column has been added to the specification, giving more information about the scope of the content to be covered.

How we are supporting you

Resources

We know that teachers already have lesson plans and resources and we hope the majority of these will still be suitable to deliver the new specifications. We have also worked very closely with our publishing partner Hodder Education, and we are consulting with them over a new edition of the textbook to support the changes we have made.

Planning guides

Our subject experts are creating planning guides for each section of the specification, offering guidance about what content to cover and pointing to relevant cases. The planning guide for law making and the law of tort is available via our qualification page, and we will add other guides soon.

Sample assessment materials

The new qualification pages for AS and A Level Law also contain updated sample assessment materials to reflect the changes, and we have produced an assessment story to give you a better understanding of our A Level assessments. We have also refreshed co-teaching guides and AS/A Level law fact sheet.

Webinars

We are hosting two webinars that will add further clarification to these specification updates. These will take place early in the autumn term, with dates still to be decided. When dates are finalised, we will add the events to the new qualification page for A Level Law, and will email teachers letting them know they can book a place.

If you have any queries about this update, please call our Customer Support Centre on 01223 553998 or email law@ocr.org.uk.

Qualification

• Law - H018, H418 (from 2020)