Sarah Phillips, Business and Economics Subject Advisor

In this blog, I explain the recent changes to the non-examined assessment (NEA) set assignments for our Cambridge National in Enterprise and Marketing. The changes were published on 1 June 2026 and will take effect for assessments from January 2027 onwards. 

Over time, teachers and centres have shared valuable feedback about the delivery, workload and assessment clarity of the R068 and R069 assignments. A consistent message came through: there is a lot of work to do. The skills and learning are right, but some tasks felt repetitive and some layouts could be clearer and easier to work with.

Making assessment straightforward: clearer, and more manageable

We’ve listened carefully to that feedback and made a number of small but purposeful changes to the R068 and R069 assignments, all with one clear aim: to reduce unnecessary repetition while keeping the same rigour, skills and content firmly in place. 

These updates are not about lowering expectations. Instead, they make assessments more manageable for students and more straightforward for teachers to deliver and mark, while still allowing students to fully demonstrate what they know and can do. 

Here’s a breakdown of what’s changed – and why we think it’s a positive step forward.

R068: reducing repetition

Task 1: Market research tools

Previously, students were asked to create three market research tools. We’ve now reduced this to two tools: 

• one primary 
• one secondary 

This still covers the full range of research skills and knowledge, but removes duplication. Students continue to demonstrate understanding of different research methods, just without completing an extra tool that often repeated the same skills. 

✓    Same content, same skills – less workload.

Task 3 (and impact on Task 4): Product design ideas 

Task 3 originally required two product design ideas, each using a different creative technique. This has now been reduced to one product design idea, using one creative technique.

As a result, Task 4 has been adjusted so that students review and refine that single design, rather than choosing between two. 

This streamlines the design process while still assessing creativity, application of techniques, and response to feedback – all key skills that remain firmly in place. 

✓   Focused design work without diluting creativity or assessment depth.

R069: clearer layouts for assessment

Task 1: Marking criteria layout 

Task 1 has two parts, but the marking criteria was previously grouped into one table worth 12 marks. This has now been split into two tables, each worth up to 6 marks. This change better reflects the way the task itself is structured and helps teachers clearly see how marks relate to each part of the task. 

✓   Clearer alignment between tasks and marking. 

Task 2: Promotional materials 

Students were originally required to produce three promotional materials, including digital and non digital formats. This has now been reduced to two promotional materials, still covering both digital and non-digital. The full range of promotional skills remains assessed, but with less repetition and pressure on students. 

✓   Workload reduced without losing breadth or balance. 

Task 3: Campaign timeframe 

One bullet point previously asked students to “Produce a timeframe for your campaign and justify why it is appropriate.” This has now been simplified to “Produce an appropriate timeframe for your campaign.” 

The judgement of appropriateness naturally comes through when the campaign is assessed as a whole, rather than requiring a separate written justification.

✓   Assessment judgement happens where it makes most sense.

Task 4: Marking criteria 

The marking criteria for Task 4 was previously presented across two separate tables, even though the task itself is not split into parts. These have now been merged into one marking grid, worth up to 15 marks. 

No content has been removed, this simply makes marking more straightforward and avoids confusion when using best-fit marking. 

✓   Clearer alignment of tasks and marking.

Task 5: Marking criteria layout 

Similarly to Task 1, the marking criteria for Task 5 has been split from one 12-mark marking grid into two 6-mark marking grids, matching the structure of the task. 

Again, this supports clarity and consistency for assessors.

✓   Better structure aligning tasks to marking, no change to standards.

Summary of changes

Across both R068 and R069, these changes:

• remove repetition 
• reduce unnecessary workload
• improve clarity and alignment 
• keep all skills, knowledge and content fully intact.

These refinements will reduce workload from the assessment tasks, but without reducing the content covered. By streamlining the assessed elements, teachers and students have greater opportunity to focus on creative, practical activities and real application of knowledge. This allows them to maintain enjoyment and creativity in the learning phase, while removing unnecessary repetition within the assessment tasks. 

We hope these refinements make the assignments easier to teach, easier to assess, and more manageable for students, while continuing to reflect the high expectations you rightly have of your students. 

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to let us know your thoughts and provide valuable insight to us for possible changes. Your time, effort and feedback have been invaluable.

Next steps

As well as the updated specification and updated R068 and R069 sample assessment materials (SAMs), make sure you always have the most recent version of the set assignments and unit recording sheets for R068 and R069. You can download these from Teach Cambridge along with a range of additional support resources such as candidate exemplar work, schemes of work for each unit, delivery guides and principal moderators’ reports.

If you have any questions, please get in touch with us.

Stay connected

If you have any questions, you can email us at support@ocr.org.uk or call us on 01223 553998. You can also sign up to subject emails to keep up-to-date with the latest news, updates and resources. 

If you are considering teaching our Cambridge National in Enterprise and Marketing or any of our qualifications, use our online form to let us know, so that we can help you with more information.

About the author

Sarah joined the Business and Economics team in September 2022. She has over 20 years’ experience as a teacher of Business, Economics and Finance and in leadership roles including Head of Department, Head of Sixth Form and Assistant Principal. She has been an assessor for A Level Economics and holds a degree in Business Economics and the RSA Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA).