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Maths October newsletter
Supporting you through 2020-2021
Total Maths - November

Hi everyone,

Welcome to the November edition of Total Maths. We hope you had a great half-term and that the remainder of term goes as smoothly as possible for you.

The autumn 2020 series is now almost over for maths qualifications, with just GCSE (9-1) Mathematics assessments remaining to take place. Results days for the series are 16/17 December (for AS, A Level and Core Maths qualifications) and 13/14 January (for GCSE (9-1) Mathematics).

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

Neil, Caroline, Steven and Ruth -  your Maths Subject Advisors
maths@ocr.org.uk
@OCR_Maths
01223 553998
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FREE training for 2020-2021
Free webinars for Maths

We're pleased to confirm that many of our Professional Development webinars are now available to you FREE of charge and will remain so for the rest of the academic year.

If you haven't already attended one, we'd certainly recommend booking yourself a place.

Sessions coming up in the next few weeks include:

  • Wednesday 11 Nov – An introduction to GCSE (9-1) Mathematics.
  • Thursday 19 Nov – Functional Skills admin essentials.
  • Tuesday 24 Nov – Marking and mark scheme training for GCSE (9-1) Mathematics.

On Thursday 26 Nov we also have GCSE (9-1) Mathematics ‘How to reengage disengaged students’ training, though there is a charge for that course.

All our training for the foreseeable future will be held online, offering the same high-quality training as our face-to-face training.

View upcoming Professional Development
GCSE (9-1) Mathematics – Exploring our Question Papers

We’re very pleased to say that we’ve just published our GCSE (9-1) Mathematics Command Word classroom posters and 'Exploring our Question Papers’ guide.

The classroom posters list and define the command words we'll use in our question papers (both general usage and those with specific mathematical meaning).

The essential guide looks in details at the make up of our J560 question papers, including…
Maths Exploring our question papers
  • our Accessibility Principles – the research-informed ways we ensure our papers enable students to understand what's required in each question, as clearly as possible,
  • our command words,
  • a list of names we’ll use for characters from now on,
  • content weightings,
  • how questions papers will assess content from the three different columns in the specification,
  • formulae guides,
  • annotated exam questions,
  • and much more.

Download the posters and guide
Qualification updates - AS Further Mathematics B (MEI) and FSMQ
AS further Maths and FSMQ

Following a review we have made the decision to withdraw the optional units Mechanics b (Y415) and Statistics b (Y416) from AS Further Mathematics B (MEI) due to minimal demand. The final assessment opportunity for Mechanics b (Y415) and Statistics b (Y416) will be the summer 2022 series. Please see our subject information update for more.

For Level 3 Additional Mathematics FSMQ, we have updated the formulae sheet to include the ‘suvat’ equations. This inclusion does not represent any change to the current specification or the question papers for this qualification, but is purely for clarity, to bring the qualification into line with GCSE and A Level Mathematics and to support teaching and learning.

Read subject information update
New A Level Mathematics blogs

Steven has written a number of blogs this year, including several A Level Mathematics ones in the last few weeks.

His latest blog looks at why standard deviation is not handled in the same way across the curriculum and at the range of support available.
Maths blogs

You can also read other recent blogs from Steven looking at hypothesis tests and comprehension papers now.

Read maths blogs
We’re keeping 2019 past papers secure for longer
Interchange

We’re receiving quite a few queries about the availability of secure papers for mock assessments this term, so we’d like to remind you that recent past papers and related materials (mark schemes, examiners’ reports, candidate exemplar resources, etc.) have been kept available from only our secure Interchange site for longer this year.
  • Materials from the summer 2019 series (and the November 2019 GCSE series) will remain only available securely until April 2021.
  • Question papers from the current autumn 2020 series are being published on Interchange a few days after each paper is sat and will remain only available securely until December 2021.

See our past paper schedule page for more.

Past paper schedule
Join our Teacher Insight Panel

We’ve just set up a brand new Teacher Insight Panel, which is all about you having your say, enabling you to say what you’d like us to develop, change or implement in our qualifications and resources.

The new Panel will also give you the opportunity to talk to other teachers, join in discussions and inform us about why you want to see us change things.
Customer insight panel

Our new Panel offers a range of benefits to you…

  • It’s all online so you can take part in discussion when it’s convenient for you.
  • You can take part in as many activities or discussions that are relevant to you.
  • You could be invited to further have your say with some of our specialist staff.
  • You can be involved in the development of new qualifications and services.

Join now and find out more.

Join our Panel

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