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Hands using a calculator - Maths newsletter
Total Maths - March

Hi everyone,

How are you? We’re pleased that the days are getting warmer and longer to accompany the coming easing of lockdown restrictions.

Ofqual and the DfE have now published their decisions for the awarding of grades in summer 2021, based on their recent consultations. Please see the first article below for more information.

If you are a centre that accepts private candidates, please be aware that the entry deadline for private candidates into the summer 2021 series has been extended to 21 March 2021. As in other years, remember also that for GCSE (9-1) Maths you have until 21 April 2021 to change the tier that candidates are entered on.

As ever, if there is any further support that we can provide for you in this current period then please do contact us. Our role is to support you as you deliver our qualifications.

Neil, Steven, Ruth and Caroline -  your Maths Subject Advisors 
maths@ocr.org.uk
@OCR_Maths
01223 553998
OCR-Newsletter-Box-shaddow
Summer 2021 updates
Students receiving their exam results

On 25 February, Ofqual and the Department for Education published the outcomes of their consultations regarding awarding in summer 2021.

The full outcomes are available to read for both GCSE, AS and A Level, as well as VTQs and other general qualifications.

They confirm that teachers will assess students’ grades based on evidence such as mock assessments, in-class tests or other student work. Awarding bodies will also publish support materials and guidance for teachers to use in determining grades.

Read our summaries of the outcomes for GCSE, AS and A Level and VTQs and other general qualifications.

Further information will be published as things are confirmed. As always, keep an eye on @OCR_Maths and the dedicated support hub on our website for the latest information.

Find out more
FREE Training for 2020-2021

The following Professional Development sessions are coming up over the next month for you.

As part of our support for you this year, all of these are completely free to attend.

Don't miss out, book your place today:
Teacher attending an online training course
  • Wed 10 March – How to mark a mock paper: A workshop for A Level Mathematics B (MEI)
  • Thu 11 March – How to mark a mock paper: A workshop for A Level Mathematics A
Maths Professional Development
GCSE (9-1) Maths – New Check In tests
GCSE Maths student working on paper using formula

We recently published three new Check In tests for the Higher tier of GCSE (9-1) Maths:

  • 9.02 – Congruence
  • 10.04 – Volume and surface area calculations
  • 11.01– Basic probability and experiments

From the qualification’s ‘Planning and teaching’ area you can either download them individually, or in a zip folder along with all the other Higher tier Check In tests.

With these Check In tests now published, that means we now have a total of 132 Check In tests available for you, covering each content area from the specification (Initial Learning, Foundation and Higher). If you’ve not downloaded them all yet, now is a great time to do so.

Check In tests - Initial learning  Check In tests - Foundation  

Check In tests - Higher
New maths blogs

Ruth and Steven have once again been hard at work publishing blogs to help support you.

If you’re looking for resources to you make GCSE (9-1) Maths tier decisions, Ruth gives you plenty of suggestions in her recent blog.
OCR blogs on a tablet

Steven has also written recently about maths anxiety, solving complex A Level quadratic equations and updated his 2019 blog supporting students who find mechanics challenging.

All our blogs contain links to a wide range of resources, both from us and others.

Maths blogs
Upcoming conferences
Teachers at a conference

As we move towards spring we will once again be attending several annual conferences and delivering sessions as part of them too.

Feel free to book yourself a ticket and we’ll see you there.

Sat 13 March – La Salle Education’s #MathsConf25, where we will deliver a GCSE (9-1) Maths marking, standardisation and analysis session.

Thu 1 April – Sat 10 April – The Mathematical Association’s 150th anniversary conference, where we will deliver a GCSE (9-1) Maths student past performance and preparing for summer 2021 session.

If you’re signed up to Ark Curriculum Plus (AC+), we’ll also be running a session at their ‘Education for Everyone’ conference on 21 & 22 April.
Maths in Psychology

The Advanced Maths Support Programme (AMSP) is running some sessions that might be of interest if you deliver maths to psychology students, or you would like to deliver statistics to your class under the context of psychology.
Two people in a psychology session

We also have 'Descriptive statistics' resources available for our Psychology qualifications.

Descriptive statistics resources

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