Northern Ireland reform update: Changes to GCSEs, AS and A Levels from September 2017
02 May 2017
Northern Ireland reform update: Changes to GCSEs, AS and A Levels from September 2017
The third wave of GCSE, AS and A Level reform changes will come in to effect in September 2017. 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 3 subjects, you need to be aware of the changes and the support we have in place for you.
We are delighted that from September 2017, these changes include the opportunity for centres in Northern Ireland to deliver the new GCSE (9–1) Science qualifications, following an announcement by the Department of Education.
The following provides an overview of the changes for schools, colleges and training providers in Northern Ireland from September 2017. Further information on GCSE, AS and A Level changes in Northern Ireland in each year is available on the OCR website.
What is changing from September 2017?
Subjects that are changing for centres in Northern Ireland from September 2017 are:
| AS and A Level Subjects | GCSE Subjects |
|---|
| Accounting | Business |
| Applied Science | Child Development |
| Classics (incl. Ancient History and Classical Civilisation) | Classics (Ancient History and Classical Civilisation) |
| Critical Thinking | Design and Technology |
| Design and Technology | Dutch |
| Dutch | Economics |
| Electronics | Engineering |
| General Studies | Health and Social Care |
| Geology | ICT |
| Government and Politics | Law |
| Health and Social Care | Leisure and Tourism |
| Home Economics (Food, Nutrition and Health) | Manufacturing |
| Humanities | Media (Film Studies and Media Studies) |
| ICT | Psychology |
| Law | Sciences |
| Leisure and Tourism | Sociology |
| Mathematics (incl. Quantitative Methods and Statistics) | |
| Media (Film Studies and Media Studies) | |
GCSEs
Following the announcement by the Minister of Education in Northern Ireland in June 2016, reversing an earlier decision about 9–1 graded GCSEs, OCR are able to offer a range of our new GCSE (9-1) qualifications to learners in Northern Ireland. This now includes our new GCSE (9–1) Science qualifications.
AS and A Levels
All of OCR’s AS and A Levels developed for first teaching in September 2017 are available to centres in Northern Ireland.
New and alternative qualifications
Further information on changes in each subject area, including alternative and replacement provision, final assessment and resit availability for the current GCSE, AS and A Level qualifications can be found in the 'Changes to GCSEs, AS and A Levels in Northern Ireland’ tables on the OCR website.
We have also 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.
Teach with OCR
If you’re interested in offering OCR qualifications, or you would like more information and support from our Subject Advisors, please complete the following form. It’s recently been launched, is simple to complete and allows you to select up to three qualifications in one submission.
Information and support
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 please visit our dedicated GCSE and A Level reform pages on the OCR website.
For further help and guidance on general qualification reform in Northern Ireland please contact OCR’s Customer Contact Centre on 01223 553998 or general.qualifications@ocr.org.uk.