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Total Maths Newsletter

Hello Colleague,

How are you? We hope that this term is going well for you and your students.

If you’ll have students sitting the November 2022 GCSE (9-1) Maths assessments,

  • advance information for the series is available. Advance information from summer 2022 exams remains online. Please double check the front cover of any advance information document before using it, to ensure you have the correct one for the series you need.
  • students will get a formulae sheet in their exams. You can download the Foundation & Higher versions now from our GCSE (9-1) Maths ‘Changes for 2022’ webpage to help students prepare.
  • the exam timetable for the series is available from our key dates and timetables webpage.

Do you find that A Level Psychology students need help with the qualification’s mathematical requirements? Find out how Core Maths supports A Level Psychology in Ruth’s new ‘Core Maths for psychology?’ blog.

We are interested in hearing from teachers of students who currently achieve unclassified, or a grade 1, 2 or 3 in GCSE (9-1) Maths. Please complete our short survey to help inform support for these students.

If you have any questions or need further support, please do get in touch. Our role is to support you as you deliver our qualifications.

Neil, Steven, Ruth and Caroline –  your OCR Maths Subject Advisors

maths@ocr.org.uk
@OCR_Maths
01223 553998
OCR-Newsletter-Box-shaddow
2023 exams update
Students in class

Last week, the DfE and Ofqual confirmed arrangements for 2023 exams in GCSE, AS and A Levels:

  • grading in 2023 will broadly be in line with before the pandemic
  • advance information will not be issued
  • formulae sheets will be provided in GCSE (9-1) Maths exams (equation sheets will also be issued in GCSE (9-1) Physics and Combined Science exams).

A consultation has been launched regarding the formulae and equation sheets to be issued in GCSE (9-1) Maths, Physics and Combined Science exams.

Another consultation has also been launched, proposing that schools, colleges and exam centres should build collecting and retaining evidence of student performance into their normal arrangements for preparing students to take exams.

Both consultations are open until 23:45 on Thursday 20 October and we encourage you to respond.

For more information, please see our news article.

Also published last week were the provisional timetables for summer 2023 exams. These are now available to view on our key dates and timetables webpage. Contact details are also included on the webpage if you wish to feedback about them (the deadline to send feedback is Thursday 13 October), which will then inform the final exam timetables to be published at a later date.

2023 arrangements
Analyse your centre’s summer 2022 performance with Active Results

For an in-depth analysis of your own centre’s GCSE & A Level Maths summer 2022 results, take a look at our free Active Results platform.

The platform enables you to access a wide range of different reports, from overall qualification grading right down to individual candidate mark reports. Comparisons of your results to national results are also included.
active results

If you’re new to Active Results, our getting started page will help you out. You can also browse the reports available for your qualification.

Active Results
Maths professional development courses running soon
Teachers in a webinar

Over the next couple of months we’ve got introductory webinars for GCSE (9-1) Maths, Level 3 FSMQ: Additional Maths and A Level Maths B (MEI), along with several Q&A webinars with the maths team and more.

Book your place now online.

Alternatively, if needed you can also contact our Professional Development team at cpd@ocr.org.uk and they'll be happy to help you book a place.

Steven has also written blogs giving an overview of the upcoming courses for AS & A Level Maths A and AS & A Level Maths B (MEI).

  • Tue 4 Oct - Switching to OCR GCSE (9-1) Maths
  • Tue 4 Oct - Ask the Subject Advisor: AS & A Level Mathematics A
  • Thu 6 Oct - Ask the Subject Advisor: AS & A Level Mathematics B (MEI)
  • Wed 2 Nov - Enhancing your teaching: AS & A Level Maths B (MEI) - Transition from KS4 to KS5
  • Thu 3 Nov - Starting to teach Level 3 FSMQ: Additional Maths
  • Thu 3 Nov - Starting to teach A Level Maths B (MEI)
  • Tue 8 Nov - Ask the Subject Advisor: AS & A Level Further Mathematics A
  • Thu 10 Nov - Ask the Subject Advisor: AS & A Level Further Mathematics B (MEI)
  • Thu 17 Nov - Ask the Subject Advisor: GCSE (9-1) Mathematics
  • Wed 23 Nov - Enhancing your teaching: Co-teaching OCR AS & A Level Further Maths B (MEI) with AS & A Level Maths
  • Thu 24 Nov - Enhancing your teaching: AS & A Level Maths A - Transition from KS4 to KS5
  • Thu 24 Nov - How to mark a mock paper: GCSE (9-1) Maths

Maths professional development
GCSE (9-1) Maths Check In tests and Section Check In tests

The start of a new academic year is a great time to use our GCSE (9-1) Maths Check In tests to gauge your students’ knowledge of topics.

We have over 100, for Initial Learning, Foundation & Higher demands and covering all areas of the qualification content. Each includes 10 questions on a topic (5 × AO1 questions, 3 × AO2 and 2 × AO3), plus an extension question.
Teacher and students

Answers and grids to record student performance are included.

Also available are Section Check Ins, covering each of the 12 sections of the qualification content.

These include 20 questions (10 × AO1 questions, 5 × AO2 and 5 × AO3) and both Foundation and Higher versions are available.

All of these are available from our GCSE (9-1) Maths ‘Planning and teaching’ resources webpage, along with much more.

GCSE (9-1) Maths resources
Upcoming conferences
Teachers at an event

We’ll be at several conferences later this month. If you’re there too, come over, say hello and catch up with us to get all the latest qualification information, support and more.

You might be able to pick up a freebie or two as well…
  • Wednesday 12 October – PiXL Maths Conference at The Kia Oval, London
  • Saturday 15 October – La Salle Education #MathsConf30 at MEA Central, Manchester

PiXL conferences  #MathsConf30
Would you like to run your GCSE (9-1) Maths mocks online?

Methodmaths has created a digital mock service for OCR GCSE (9-1) Maths teachers.

Sophisticated auto-marking gives students instant feedback and saves you time. Students are then also given access to personalised support. Sign up now for free access to familiarisation tests and more information via the Methodmaths website.
Students using computers

The service features digital versions of our November 2021 GCSE (9-1) Maths papers, which students can complete online.

Methodmaths

**This service is optional, and is not required to deliver the qualification. It is based on OCR past papers and mark schemes. The marking and feedback is provided by Methodmaths and is not supplied or endorsed by OCR**

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