GCSE, AS and A Levels

On 6 January, Education Secretary, Gavin Williamson confirmed that GCSE and A Level exams will not go ahead. Here’s a short summary of the announcement.

Cambridge Nationals and Cambridge Technicals

We’re committed to supporting everyone to deliver Cambridge Nationals and Cambridge Technicals and helping you deal with the on-going challenges in 2021.

We can now confirm, following guidance on January 5 from the DfE, that vocational exams can go ahead as scheduled this month, where schools and colleges 'judge it right to do so'. The full DfE guidance is available to help you manage this.

Read our latest news story for more information and options if students don’t take exams this January.

Unit-level adaptations to make delivery easier for you

We shared proposals for adapting Cambridge Nationals and Cambridge Technicals with you at the end of September and we can now confirm the final unit-level changes in place to meet public health requirements.

We’ve reviewed all the units in our Cambridge Nationals and Cambridge Technicals being taken this academic year so we can provide you with guidance at qualification and unit level on changes to requirements or alternative approaches to support public health guidance. These changes are designed to make units to be taken in 2020/21 possible to complete, given the constraints you are working with, and to make sure that the learning outcomes and assessment criteria can still be met. The adaptations depend on the nature of the unit, but include changes to make delivery easier for you, such as:

• simplifying tasks so that less equipment and fewer specialist facilities are needed
• adjusting requirements so that some activities or tasks, such as sport coaching sessions, do not need to be done as many times.

We’ve now published our guide to the changes which clearly set out the changes for each affected unit. Please download these from the notice that sits at the top of each qualification page. For some units, there are no changes.

• Cambridge Nationals guides to the unit level changes
• Cambridge Technicals guides to the unit changes

These should be used, alongside specifications and assignments, to plan and carry out assessments.

For teacher-assessed moderated units, we’ve confirmed the arrangements for students producing work from home.

You can also contact our Customer Support Team on support@ocr.org.uk for any questions.

We know you still have lots of questions and we’ve collated some FAQs for Cambridge Nationals and Cambridge Technicals.

Autumn 2020 exam series results days are as follows, with restricted results released the day before:

• 14 January – GCSE English Language and Mathematics only
• 28 January - Cambridge Nationals moderated units
• 11 February – all other GCSE subjects

Download our information sheet, which describes the November 2020 series post-results services, including fees and deadlines.

Key dates

• Download key dates and timetables

We’ve collated our most frequently asked questions to support you through 2021.

Resources

Our new free ‘How to mark a mock’ workshops are available to book via our professional development hub. Currently available for GCSE Computer Science, GCSE Physics, A Level Biology, A Level Chemistry, A Level Psychology, A Level Religious Studies, GCSE English Literature and GCSE English Language. More dates and subjects will be added shortly.

You can also use ExamBuilder, our free question-building platform, to create tailored question papers giving your students the opportunity to practice and build confidence ahead of their exams.

Our subject advisors have also written some blogs focusing on resources you can use, and handy hints and tips.

Do you have a virtual open day coming up? Download our Cambridge Nationals and Cambridge Technicals posters which highlight some of the career opportunities for students taking these qualifications.

All our professional development courses are running online. View upcoming webinars by visiting the professional development hub page.

Our online Teacher Networks will be available to book after half term - these events offer the opportunity to discuss teaching and assessment, share ideas and best practice and build supportive networks.

You’re invited to join our Teacher Insight Panel. As part of this exclusive panel, we'll ask your opinions, showcase documents, videos, images and engage in discussions to get your feedback on all that we do. You’ll be helping to inform decisions around new and existing qualifications, support and teaching resources, and influence how we can provide the best possible outcomes for teachers and students.