The Cambridge Nationals terminal assessment rule – what you need to know

Mark Sirot-Smith, Business and Economics Subject Advisor

Cambridge Nationals are designed to provide students with practical, real-world skills and knowledge in a range of subjects. They all include non-examined assessments (NEAs) as well as exams, but one important aspect that centres must understand is the terminal assessment rule. In this blog, I will explain the terminal assessment rule and examine how it affects your course management.

What is the terminal assessment rule?

The DfE requires all technical awards offered to 14 to 16-year-olds (which include Cambridge Nationals) from first teaching in September 2022 to have at least 40% of their total marks assessed by examination. Students must take these exams in the series in which they are certificating for the qualification (a terminal rule).

What does this mean for Cambridge Nationals?

If you currently run a Cambridge National programme, you need to be aware that the terminal assessment rule means the exam must be taken in the final series of the student’s course (January or June). 

Non-examined assessment (NEA) units can be submitted in the same series as the exam or an earlier series, but the exam must be taken in the final series. 

If a student takes the exam in a series before the NEA units are submitted, this is considered as a ‘practice’ attempt and will not contribute to their final qualification grade. The student must take the exam again in the final assessment series and that exam result will be used towards the student’s final qualification grade. If you intend to enter students for practice exam attempts, you need to make sure your students are clear that these attempts will not count towards their final grade. 

If a student sits the exam in a way that meets the terminal rule, but is unhappy with the exam result, they can also choose not to certificate and re-enter in a later series. This still meets the terminal rule. When you decide to certificate, the exam result used towards the final grade is always the last one taken even if it is lower than a previous attempt.

Some examples

Example 1: Enterprise and Marketing (J837) 

In this example, the terminal rule has been met, as the exam is taken in the final assessment series and a certification entry can be made. 

Year 10: June series – R068 (NEA) submitted
Year 11: January series – R069 (NEA) submitted
Year 11: June series – R067 (Exam) taken and R069 Resit (NEA) submitted 

Example 2: Creative iMedia (J834) 

In this example, the terminal rule has not been met, as by resitting an NEA in June of Year 11, the final assessment series has changed. The candidates must now also retake the exam. This exam result will be the one that contributes to the final qualification grade, even if it is lower than the January exam result. 

Year 10: June series – R094 (NEA) submitted
Year 11: January series – R093 (Exam) taken and R095 (NEA) submitted
Year 11: June series – R094 Resit (NEA) submitted 

Example 3: Health and Social Care (J835) 

In this example, the terminal rule has been met, as the exam is taken in the final assessment series and a certification entry can be made. This example gives the candidates an opportunity to improve their overall result by resitting the exam. The June exam result will be the one that contributes to the final qualification grade, even if it is lower than the January result. 

Year 10: June series – R033 (NEA) submitted
Year 11: January series – R032 (Exam) taken and R034 (NEA) submitted
Year 11: June series – R032 Resit (Exam) taken 

Example 4: Sport Science (J828) 

In this example, the terminal rule has been met, as the exam is taken in the final assessment series and a certification entry can be made. In this example, the candidates’ best NEA results would be used towards their final grades. 

Year 10: June series – R181 (NEA) submitted
Year 11: January series – R182 (NEA) submitted
Year 11: June series – R180 (Exam) taken, R181 Resit (NEA) and R182 Resit (NEA) submitted

Next steps

If you realise that you have entered your students for the examination, and it does not meet the terminal rule you have the following options: 

1. Retain the entries and use them as a ‘practice’ attempt. 
2. Ask your exams officer to withdraw the entries before the ‘Entry withdrawals with refund’ deadline free of charge. For the January series, this is 21 November.

Further information

More information about the terminal assessment rule can be found on Teach Cambridge or by contacting the subject advisor team using the details below. If you don’t have access to Teach Cambridge, please talk to your exams officer to arrange this. 

We’re also running three drop-in sessions in the coming weeks to explain the terminal rule and answer your questions about it. Book onto one of these sessions.

Stay connected

Share your thoughts in the comments below. If you need further support you can email us at support@ocr.org.uk or tweet us @ocrexams. You can also sign up to subject updates to receive information about resources and support.

About the author

Mark recently joined OCR, after over 30 years in teaching, lecturing and senior leadership in a variety of secondary schools and FE colleges. He loves being active: walking his dog, playing tennis and visiting his three grown-up children in the midlands and north, especially if it coincides with a Crystal Palace away game.