As part of our accessibility principles, we're amending the question paper rubrics for the following components:

• AS Level Drama and Theatre – Exploring Performance (H059/05)
• A Level Drama and Theatre – Analysing Performance (H459/31)

We’re making these minor changes to provide clarity and better guidance for students on what they should answer in their exam.

You and your students will see this change in the live assessment materials from the June 2025 series onwards.

There is no change to the assessment or to the nature or demand of the questions.

Amendments to question paper rubrics

We're changing the instructions to candidates as follows:

• At the start of Section A, we’re removing, ‘Choose one performance text for each question. At the start of your answer write the name of the performance text you have chosen’.
• At the top of each theme, aligned with the left margin, we’re adding:

Use one performance text for each question.
Use a different performance text for each question.
Write the name of the performance text you have chosen at the start of your answer.

• The performance texts for each theme will be listed in alphabetical order and aligned with the left margin.
• In Section B, we’re removing, ‘All candidates are required to answer the question in Section B’.
• We’re moving, ‘At the start of your answer write the name, venue and date (month and year) of the live performance you have seen’, to the start of Section B.

Updated sample assessment material

To reflect these question paper rubric changes, we have amended our sample assessment materials which you can use with your students for mock exams.

AS Level Drama and Theatre – Exploring Performance (H059/05)

You can view and download the amended sample question paper (version 1.1) from:

• the Assessment > Sample assessment materials section of the AS Level Drama and Theatre qualification page on our website.
• the Assessment > Exams > Sample assessment materials section of  Teach Cambridge.

A Level Drama and Theatre – Analysing Performance (H459/31)

You can view and download the amended sample question paper (version 1.1) from:

• the Assessment > Sample assessment materials section of the A Level Drama and Theatre qualification page on our website.
• the Assessment > Exams > Sample assessment materials section of  Teach Cambridge.

Annotated sample assessment material

To reflect the rubric changes, we've also updated the annotated sample assessment materials for AS and A Level Drama and Theatre. These annotated guides explain how candidates should approach each paper and how marks are awarded to the different questions.

You can view and download these guides from the same sections as the sample question papers on our website and Teach Cambridge, as mentioned above.

If you have any queries about this update, please call our Customer Support Centre on 01223 553998 or email support@ocr.org.uk.

Qualification

• Drama and Theatre - H059, H459 (from 2016)