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Everything you need for summer 2022 - two female students and female teacher

Hi Colleague

We hope you managed to take some time to enjoy the bank holiday weekend - Saturday felt like the peak of summer but we were quickly brought back to reality with a drizzly Sunday! It's looking brighter heading into this weekend though ☀️.

Exams are fast approaching with the main summer series starting on 16 May. We're really grateful for everything you've done to help prepare your students. If you need any further support, take a look at our supporting you webpages or get in touch with your Subject Team who are on hand to answer any queries you may have.

Recent updates: 

  • if you missed last week's roundup - we've produced a one-page visual showing the package of support for GCSE, AS and A Level students and for Cambridge Nationals and Cambridge Technicals students taking exams and assessments this year
  • for the majority of GCSEs, AS and A Levels, don't forget advance information is available via our finder to help your students' revision
  • does your exams officer go above and beyond? Nominations are now open for the year's Exams Officer of the Year award - sponsored by The Exams Office
  • new guidance has been published for schools and colleges in Wales about self-isolation for students taking exams. The JCQ has updated their special consideration guidance for summer 2022 for schools and colleges in Wales.

In this week's roundup:

  • we've had some questions on the process for submitting centre-assessed marks and samples - below we share the process of what is required and when
  • a quick recap of some of the exam preparation support we've provided for students and teachers
  • Mental Health Awareness Week begins on Monday (9 - 15 May). We'll be raising the awareness of mental health with some support and resources so please keep an eye out for updates on our social media channels
  • a reminder about the reduction in assessment for Cambridge Nationals and Cambridge Technicals
  • following the Department for Education's (DfE) announcement that a GCSE in Natural History that we proposed will be introduced, we're delighted to share the views of students Ollie and Aisling and teacher Dr. Rebecca Day on why this is such an important qualification
  • Ofqual has published its 3-year plan with the interests of students and apprentices at its heart. 

Finally, whatever the weather this weekend, whether you're planning on unwinding indoors, or exploring the great outdoors, we hope you have a great time!

As always, we’re here to support you.

Best wishes

OCR

01223 553998 | support@ocr.org.uk | Twitter | View past issues of the weekly roundup
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Submitting centre-assessed marks and grades: what is required and when
Two female students in classroom at their desk

Many of you will be preparing to submit centre-assessed marks and grades to us for general qualifications and/or Cambridge Nationals.

Thank you to those who've already submitted marks. If you haven't yet, please submit your marks by the following deadlines:

  • 15 May - All qualifications (except AS, A Level and GCSE PE* and AS/A Level Art and Design)
  • 31 May - AS and A Level Art and Design

* AS, A Level and GCSE PE submission deadline was 31 March 2022

Candidate authentication

Each candidate must sign a declaration before submitting their work to their teacher to confirm the work is their own and any assistance given and/or sources used have been acknowledged. A sample can be downloaded from our website.

For some qualifications, specific candidate authentication forms must be submitted with the centre sample:

  • GCSE Design and Technology J310
  • AS and A Level Design and Technology H004–H006 and H404–H406
  • A Level Geography H481

You can download these forms from our forms finder.

Centre authentication and declarations

For A Level Science and GCSE (9-1) English Language Heads of Centres need to confirm that the school/college has followed the regulatory requirements involving NEA, by returning the NEA centre declaration form to us by 15 May 2022.

For GCSE Citizenship a written statement must be provided to confirm each student has completed a citizen action project. This must be returned to us by 15 May 2022.

Teachers must declare the work submitted for internal assessment is the student's own work by completing a centre authentication form (CCS160) for each unit/component. These should be kept within the centre until all reviews of results, malpractice and appeals have been resolved.

Reviews of marking for centre-assessed marks

Please remember, before submitting marks to us, you need to inform your students of their centre-assessed marks (and endorsement grades) and provide enough time for them to appeal these marks. In our blog, Customer Support Manager, Ali Leather provides answers for the questions we often receive about the process.

Sample requests

Once we have received your marks and grades, we'll then be able to send our sample requests. Please note if you're part of a consortium, we'll wait until we've received marks from each centre before sending a sample request.

All samples must be submitted within three working days of receiving the sample request.

Support 

All our NEA subject-specific blogs are now available to help ensure you're marking to the correct standard.

Explore NEA blogs
Recap of resources for students and teachers

Teachers

  • Lucinda Powell, education consultant suggests five ideas and revision activities to keep your students engaged
  • check out Lucinda's podcast mini-series about revision and mental health
  • take a look at our blogs
  • examBuilder - great for creating mock papers 
  • 'past paper materials finder' - find past papers, mark schemes, examiner reports, and practice materials.
  • command words - encourage your students to familiarize themselves with their subject command words
Students working - two males, one writing on paper

Students

Finally, don't forget we've launched our new Instagram account to support students revising and to share mental health and wellbeing tips. 

Follow us on Instagram
Mental Health Awareness Week 9-15 May
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This year's theme for Mental Health Awareness Week is loneliness - something which affected many of us during the pandemic and continues to have a huge impact on our physical and mental health.

Mental health and exam preparation

In the lead up to exams your students may be feeling understandable nervous and overwhelmed. They might also feel alone, and like they are the only one going through this.

We've created a webpage full of support and resources that you and your students might find helpful. Resources include:

  • ✏️a 20-minute interactive lesson plan that you can use to get students thinking about their feelings and how to develop coping strategies to improve wellbeing
  • 🎙️ podcast - five steps to mental well-being
  • 🎙️ podcast - A Level students share experiences of managing stress and anxiety - they also share their revision techniques
  • 🎙️ podcast - preparing for your exams
  • 🎙️ podcast  - top coping strategies
  • 📽️ video - managing stress

You can also follow us on Twitter and Instagram where we'll be sharing support and resources next week!

Explore our mental health awareness webpage
Reminder: Cambridge Nationals and Cambridge Technicals - requesting a reduction in assessment

If teachers need to free up time spent on assessment to help address students’ loss of learning, we are allowing a reduction in the number of assessments taken for moderated units.

Our new ‘reduction in assessment’ area of Interchange is now available until 15 May 2022 for you to: 

  • tell us the Cambridge Nationals and/or Cambridge Technicals moderated units from 2021/22 you are using for reduction in assessment  
  • upload your Head of Centre declaration 
Happy male student

We’ll continue to assess knowledge and understanding in the examined units for which there is no option to reduce the assessment. The reduction in the number of assessments for moderated units can only be used for units planned to be assessed in 2021/22. 

If you have any questions about this, please contact us.

A step-by-step guide for using the reduction in assessment area is available on our website. We have also provided an FAQ which includes links to video guides. A quick reference guide to the process for requesting a reduction in assessment can be found in our infographics below: 

Read FAQ
Our GCSE in Natural History: thoughts from students and teachers
School of fish

On 21 April the DfE gave the green light for the introduction of a GCSE in Natural History, we which  proposed.

"A GCSE in Natural History could be a game-changer for the nature of Britain. Everyone will have the opportunity to be nature-literate, to learn about British wildlife and how it relates to the rest of the world, which is essential for a sustainable, green future." - Mary Colwell.

Students Ollie Riley-Smith and Aisling Fitzgerald believe young people don't get the opportunity to be educated on the natural world and where they do the topics are divided across a wide variety of subjects with the topics rarely brought together. They think a GCSE in Natural History can help provide early knowledge of a natural world and a better understanding of how to ensure its continued health.

Dr. Rebecca Day, a teacher at St. Paul's Catholic College, explains that a GCSE in Natural History isn't just about providing young people a vital education on the world around us, it can also have a restorative effect on any lingering post-pandemic mental health issue

Want to find out more about our proposed Natural History GCSE? Check out our Natural History FAQs and GCSE Timeline.

Discover more
Ofqual's new 3-year plan

On 4 May 2022, Ofqual announced it's new 3-year plan setting out its ambition for the future of qualifications that are sought after, fair, accessible, valued and world class. 

We've provided a quick summary of the plan which has a big focus on the greater use of technology in assessment in the future. 

Read our summary
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