On 30 September 2021, the Department for Education (DfE) and Ofqual announced that advance information about 'the focus of the content of the exams' would be provided by exam boards to support student revision. This is one of a package of measures to enable exams to go ahead in summer 2022. The DfE confirmed that advance information will be provided by each board by 7 February 2022 at the latest.

To help teachers and students in the meantime, we've published a summary which includes more details on the purpose of advance information and how it will apply by subject and level to OCR qualifications. We hope this summary will also aid teachers' planning. We've linked to the summary from the 'Changes for 2022' section of the relevant qualification pages. 

Exam boards are working together to follow the same approach to advance information and have published summaries today to ensure teachers and students receive a consistent message, whichever board you follow. Advance information will apply to the majority of subjects at GCSE, AS and A Level, as well as to Core Maths and Free Standing Maths Qualification (FSMQ). It will not apply to GCSE English Literature, History, Ancient History or Geography, where optionality is being introduced, or to GCSE, AS and A Level Art and Design due to the nature of assessment (NEA) in that subject.

Ofqual has sent a letter to schools and colleges about what to expect from advance information. For further details, please take a look at the JCQ's FAQs for schools and colleges, and for students, as well as the JCQ Guidance on Advance Information. 

Supporting you

We'll be offering support, such as online Q&A sessions, after advance information is published. We're committed to supporting teachers and students every step of the way this year. If you have queries about what you've read here or anywhere else, our customer support centre is always here to support you on 01223 553998 or via support@ocr.org.uk. You can also sign up for weekly email updates which bring you the latest news about 2021/22.