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Total Maths Newsletter

Hello Colleague

We hope you had a good half-term break and are looking forward to the rest of term. 😊

Our provisional exam timetables for summer 2026 are now available for you to view, giving you the opportunity to raise any concerns before the final timetables are decided and published. They can be viewed on our key dates and timetables webpage, which also includes a contact email to send any feedback to. The deadline for sending feedback is Friday 21 March.

If you’re interested in marking this summer, we still have vacancies for Examiners for AS / A Level Further Maths A and AS / A Level Further Maths B (MEI).

Have you read our latest guest blog, from Charlie Stripp MBE, Chief Executive of MEI? In ‘GCSE Maths curriculum and assessment: time for change?’, Charlie summarises some of the issues and debates currently taking place regarding the current qualification and considers how can maths education at GCSE level can be improved.

As always, if you have any queries or we can give you any further support, please get in contact with us. Our role is to support you as you deliver our qualifications.

Neil, Steven, Ruth, Caroline and Amy - your OCR Maths Subject Advisors 

maths@ocr.org.uk
@OCR_Maths
01223 553998
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Join the discussion on the future of GCSE (9-1) Maths
Teachers networking

OCR is calling for ‘urgent reform’ of England's GCSE (9-1) Maths resit policy, the introduction of a new GCSE Short Course Maths qualification and much improved Key Stage 3 assessment. You can read more about our recommendations now.

These recommendations have been developed with insight and feedback from maths teachers like you. If you would like to be involved with influencing change, please sign up to our new Maths Advisory Group. This platform will be used to run discussions, ask questions and share plans for future reform with you.

Join our Maths Advisory Group
Upcoming maths Teacher Networks

We have several Teacher Networks coming up throughout this term and into next term. These are completely free to attend and are set up to bring maths teachers together, so we can share relevant updates, answer your questions, discuss best practice and more.

You can book your place now.
Teachers in a room talking

Whether you’re already teaching a qualification or just interested in learning more, you’re very welcome to attend. We look forward to seeing you there. 😊

If you’d be interested in running a future face to face network at your school, please let us know.

Teacher Networks
Professional development for 2025
Teacher talking

Head over to our maths professional development webpage to see the courses coming up in the remainder of this academic year and to book your place.

Coming up soon on Wednesday 19 March is our training to enhance your teaching of problem-solving in GCSE (9-1) Maths.

We’ll explain what is required in order for students to meet the criteria for problem solving (AO3), as well as offering practical tips and guidance for students to understand these. Book your place now.

Materials from past courses are available for you to download from Teach Cambridge. Select your qualification, then in the menu go to ‘Training’, then ‘Past training events’.

Explore maths professional development
Talking about GCSE (9-1) Maths

Earlier this month, Amy, Caroline and Neil joined the discussion about accessibility in the classroom and exams as guests of the SecEd podcast.

The conversation covered common barriers to the qualification, what can be done to support learners to ensure all achieve their potential and much more. You can listen back to the podcast now.
Student in lesson

Next month Amy and Neil will also be joining Teachers Talk Radio as guest on their show. They’ll be looking ahead to summer 2025 and sharing ideas for how best to prepare students for GCSE (9-1) Maths exams, as well as discussing common exam ‘myths’ and the truth behind them. Join us on Tuesday 1 April at 19:30 to hear the discussion, ask questions and share your thoughts.

SecEd podcast   Teachers Talk Radio
Pre-release materials and new resources for Core Maths
Student and teacher in lesson

Pre-release materials for Core Maths A (H868) and Core Maths B (H869) summer 2025 exams will be published on Teach Cambridge on Saturday 15 March. For more information, please see our recent subject update.

To help support you, the Advanced Maths Support Programme (AMSP) are running online discussion meetings on the pre-release materials for OCR Core Maths A & B, on Thursday 27 March (14:00-16:00) and Tuesday 1 April (16:00-18:00). Book your place now.

We have also just published two new Section Check In tests for the qualifications, on ‘Statistics’ and the ‘Normal Distribution’. They can be downloaded now from Teach Cambridge, under ‘Teaching’ and then ‘Progress checking’.

Teach Cambridge
Upcoming conferences

We’ll be at several conferences in the next couple of weeks…

On Saturday 15 March we’ll be at the La Salle Maths #MathsConf37, held at Newfield Secondary School in Sheffield. Come and visit us on the stand to discuss maths, ask questions, pick up a copy of any of our specifications and more.
People in a room talking

From Monday 14 April to Wednesday 16 April we’ll be at the Joint Conference Of Mathematics Subject Associations ‘Future Proofing The Curriculum’ in Loughborough. We’re also running two sessions in the programme. Neil will deliver a session on GCSE (9-1) Maths student performance on Monday in session D, while Steven will deliver a session on A Level Maths student performance on Tuesday in session G.

We look forward to seeing you soon. ðŸ˜Š

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