Reformed Qualifications – External Assessment - Alison Leather

Many of your colleagues may already be teaching the new Tranche 1 qualifications which started in September 2015 so summer 2016 will be the first exam series when legacy and new assessments will be running at the same time. In 2016 this will only apply to AS qualifications (first assessment of the new Tranche 1 A Levels and GCSEs won’t be until summer 2017). No doubt many of you are already preparing for this year’s summer series, so, if you are delivering any of the new AS qualifications, it seems like a good time to consider some of the challenges that the programme of reform is likely to present.

What should I be thinking about?

Whilst there are a number of potential issues to consider, don’t panic – you’ll probably be familiar with many of these already! As you may already know, assessment for the new qualifications is linear and therefore taken at the end of the course in the relevant summer series. With exams playing a leading role in the new qualifications, you’ll want to look at how best to manage the practical and logistical demands of running legacy and new assessments side-by-side.

• Identifying legacy and new question papers – despatches which we send to you could contain papers for both legacy and new qualifications. To help you keep track when you’re unpacking, checking, and getting them ready on exam days we’ve introduced different question paper bags – new AS (and A Level from 2017) qualifications will be packed in date order in pink bags, and legacy qualifications will remain in the existing buff coloured bags, also in date order.
  
• Managing exam rooms and seating plans – for many centres it’s normal practice to have multiple subjects (and exam boards) together in the same room – but now there is the additional challenge of running legacy and new exams for the same subjects. Legacy and new subjects that have exams in the same series will be timetabled together on the same date and in the same exam session. So it’s important to think about how you will manage your exam rooms and seating plans. Will you seat legacy and new subjects in the same exam room? What will be the best way for you to organise this and how will you make the arrangements clear for both candidates and invigilators?
• Issuing question papers to candidates – this could present a higher risk than usual. How will you ensure that candidates are sitting the correct exam? Late arrivals could be at particular risk of being given an incorrect paper as candidates are unlikely to be clear with invigilators about whether they are entered for a legacy or new specification!
• Training and briefing your invigilators will be key to avoiding issues in the exam room – don’t forget The Exams Office have a range of support available on their website including training materials and videos which you may find helpful. It’s also a really good idea to brief your candidates so they know what to expect in the exam room.
• Exam resources and materials – you may like to check whether any of the new qualifications require particular resources. Use the Exams Directory, available via Interchange, to check what you need. You may also find it useful to speak to your teaching colleagues.

What support is OCR providing?

We want to support you so if you have questions you need to ask, or support you’d like us to provide, we want to hear from you. Just email us at cast@ocr.org.uk with your comments or suggestions.

Our Qual Change Planner, available on the reformed qualification pages of the OCR website, is designed to support you in changing from the qualification you are currently delivering to one of our new reformed qualifications.

Our monthly exams officer update and subject information updates are essential reading, they contain all the latest news and information and provide quick links to our website and our latest blog posts.

If you have questions about any aspect of the new qualifications then you can find lots more information on the reform pages of the OCR website.

Lastly, make sure you know who your local customer support manager (CSM) is. Are you and your teaching colleagues members of an exams officer or teacher network group? Networks allow you to keep up-to-date and interact not just with us but with other exams officers. You can find more information on the ‘training and networks’ page of our website.

About the author

Alison Leather - Customer Support Manager (South East)

Alison is Customer Support Manager for the South East region. The Customer Support Team provides support, training and guidance for centres administering OCR qualifications.

Alison has worked in education since 1995, as an Exams Manager in a college, a Centre Support Officer with the National Assessment Agency (NAA) and an Exams Officer in a secondary school – so she knows how challenging and rewarding it can be working in the exams office. Alison joined OCR as Customer Support Manager in 2007.