Exams and assessment FAQs
The Awarding Body responsible for assessment is OCR and all inquiries should be directed to them.
Here is our guide to what is available on the OCR website
Are practice papers available in the 2010 style?
What can we prepare GCSE Science students for the Unit 4 (Ideas in context) exam?
Will separate grades be awarded for each course?
Can a candidate sit different exams at different tiers?
What is in the OCR coursework support books for teachers? Where can I find these?
Are physics equations given in the exam questions, or do we have to learn them?
How are the courses assessed?
The same general pattern applies to each course except Entry Level and Applied Science.
Students sit four objective examinations. Each of the first three exams is based on three specific teaching modules, and is available at Higher or Foundation tier. These papers are available in January and June; teachers decide when candidates should be entered, depending on their teaching schedule.
In the June at the end of each GCSE course, there is a fourth, terminal, exam: this is not synoptic but requires students to write more extended answers and demonstrate their understanding of some of the 'big ideas' in the course. Internally assessed skills fulfil the remaining assessment requirements.
Applied Science candidates doing the 2006 course sit three examinations, one for each of their chosen units, and submit their Work-related Portfolio at the end of the course in May.
Here is a Guide to the OCR website.
When are examinations available?
There are examination sessions in January and June each year. The terminal papers are only available in June. Entries for January (with tier of entry: Higher or Foundation) have to be notified to OCR by an October deadline and for June by a February deadline. School exam officers will be sent specific dates.
There is no restriction as to when students are entered for exams. A few schools plan to enter all their students for all papers at the end of Year 11, producing in effect a terminal assessment model.
See the OCR website for details.
Here is our Guide to the OCR website.
Are practice papers available in the 2010?
Sample assessment materials in the 2010 style, for all C21 courses, are available on the OCR website.
Follow apropriate course link from the C21 guide to the OCR website, then "View all documents" , then "Assessment materials".
How can we prepare GCSE Science students for the Unit 4 (Ideas in context) exam?
GCSE Science Unit 4 can only be entered in June of each year.
As you probably know, Unit 4 has three questions, one each of Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. Each question relates to one of the GCSE Science modules. Different question types are shown in the Sample Assessment Material for Unit 4 on the OCR website.
OCR will post out the pre-release (stimulus) material for these questions mid-March. Centres should receive it before Easter.
After Easter, you could do one week of preparation as a department, rotating students around Biology, Chemistry and Physics specialists if you use them, or if not, one lesson on each subject area.
Here are some suggestions. You may have other ideas.
- Do a brief revision session on the module, using media headlines (contemporary if relevant) and images from the OUP iPack, to set the mood. Read through OCR's stimulus material and build up a spider diagram of key concepts related to this - either as class, or students working in groups using the textbook to help them.
- Question-spotting - each group comes up with two questions they could ask about the article - one a Science Explanation and one an Idea About Science. (The OUP Revision Guide might also be useful here, to generate ideas.)
- Go through the students' questions, then ask each group to come up with another two ... and so on, until you've exhausted it.
The teacher might have pre-prepared a list of, say, twelve questions. You could make this into a game - can the class get all questions on the teachers' list? (Be reasonably flexible about actual wording of questions - accept any question based on the same idea.) Mini mars bars all round if they get them !!
Remind your students that Unit 4 questions can be from ANY Idea about Science (IaS), not necessarily just the ones studied in each particular module, although these are by far the most obvious ones. For example, it is possible to assess IaS1 'Data' in a question about B1 'You and your genes', even though IaS1 is not explicitly taught in B1).
For weaker students, you might not push this last point. Focus them on just the Ideas about Science in the three modules that the stimulus material indicates.
Will separate grades be awarded for each course?
Yes. Candidates will be graded separately for GCSE Science, GCSE Additional Science, and GCSE Additional Applied Science.
A candidate taking GCSE Science + GCSE Additional Science, for example, might end up with two different grades.
See the OCR website for details. See our Guide to the OCR website.
Can a candidate sit different exams at different tiers of entry?
Yes, teachers can choose Foundation or Higher level entry for each candidate depending on their achievement in the units which the targeted exam covers.
The final grade for a course is based upon the standardised marks carried forward from each examination and internally assessed skills tasks.
See the OCR website for details. See our Guide to the OCR website.
Is the GCSE Science course suitable for post-16 students wanting to improve their GCSE grade?
Our centres include a sixth-form college using the core GCSE Science course as a re-sit option. This is not because C21 GCSE Science is viewed as an easier option, but because it is a different and more engaging course.
What is in the OCR coursework support books for teachers? Where can I find these?
Help with coursework management for Twenty First Century Science (OCR Science A)
There are OCR teacher guides (Teacher support booklets) for each course in the suite: GCSE Science, GCSE Additional Science, GCSE Additional Applied Science, GCSE Biology, GCSE Chemistry, GCSE Physics, and Entry Level Science.
Download these teacher guides from the OCR website. For links to OCR web pages where you can download these, see our Guide to the OCR website.
Contents of coursework management guides
As an example, here is a list of what the GCSE Science teacher guide contains. There are corresponding guides for the other courses in the Twenty First Century Science suite. See our Guide to the OCR website.
Managing skills development and assessment in Twenty First Century Science
Introduction to skills assessment for the three schemes (Science, Additional Science, Additional Applied Science)
Marking internally assessed work
Rationale for skills assessment in Science A
Data Analysis (OCR Assessment unit A219)
Guidance in marking the data analysis task
Case Studies, notes on (OCR Unit A219)
Preparing students for the assessment of case studies
Guidance in marking case studies
Management and administration of the skills assessment
Internal standardisation of marks
External moderation of marks
Authentication of students’ assessed work
Appendices
A: Marking criteria for Data Analysis
B: Activities which might be used for teaching or assessment of data: interpretation and evaluation skills
C: Example of data analysis tasks with commentaries
D: Marking criteria for case studies (OCR A219)
E: Suggestions for topics for case studies
F: Guidance for students writing a case study
G: Examples of completed case studies with commentaries
H: Cover sheet for work for moderation
I: Support for very weak students to produce coursework
J: Ideas about Science
K: Advice to centres on preparation of sample for moderation
L: Student authentication statement
M: Centre authentication form
N: Health and safety information
Back to Guide to the OCR website.
Do students taking the triple award sit the normal exams for GCSE Science and Additional Science, then extra exams for individual sciences?
Students on track for separate sciences (GCSE Biology, GCSE Chemistry, and GCSE Physics) must do exam papers in subject groups. That is, B1 B2 B3, C1 C2 C3, P1 P2 P3 etc. Students must not do mixed subject papers B1 C1 P1, B2 C2 P2, etc.
For separate sciences, students also do different Ideas in Context papers (Unit 3 in each subject, including the 7th modules B7 C7 P7.)
In each of the three sciences, students must do either GCSE Science type coursework (Unit 4 case study & data analysis) or GCSE Additional Science type coursework (Unit 5 investigation).
It makes sense if, across the three subjects, students do both GCSE Science type and GCSE Additional Science type coursework. That way, GCSE Science plus GCSE Additional Science can still be a fall-back for any students not on track for the separate sciences GCSEs after January year 11. (Such students would then entered for appropriate Ideas in Context papers.)
For further clarification see the specifications downloadable from the OCR website. Here is our guide to the OCR website.
Are physics equations given in the exam questions, or do we have to learn them?
There are no equations as such in the OCR specification for GCSE Science A.
Statements in the OCR specification for GCSE Additional Science A are phrased "use the equation ..." (not "recall the equation ...").
See the specimen exam papers provided by OCR (sample assessment materials, or SAMS). The equations are given on a page at the beginning of each exam paper. Candidates must decide which equation is needed for a particular question, and how to use the equation.
Printer-friendly version