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Everything you need for summer 2022 - two female students and female teacher

Hi Colleague

Another bank holiday weekend already! We've got our fingers crossed that the sun makes an appearance. We hope you're all managing to settle back into the new term and have everything you and your students need to prepare for summer 2022 exams.

Recent updates: 

In this week's roundup:

  • read our latest blog focusing on engaging and motivating students for exams
  • why not encourage your students to follow our new Instagram page  - it's packed with revision tips, mental health and wellbeing advice, key dates and more...and don't forget to give us a follow yourself
  • sharing advance information with your students for their revision - find out more below
  • resources to support teachers with assessment
  • Cambridge Nationals and Cambridge Technicals - unit level adaptations and work completed at home and our new ‘reduction in assessment’ area of Interchange is now available
  • check out our examiner vacancies.

And finally, for those observing the end of Ramadan, Eid Mubarak!

As always, we’re here to support you every step of the way.

Have a lovely bank holiday weekend.

Best wishes

OCR

01223 553998 | support@ocr.org.uk | Twitter | View past issues of the weekly roundup
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Engaging and motivating students for exams
A Level 2 x male students at their desks

We know many of your students are feeling overwhelmed with their first exam series fast approaching and motivating them to revise and prepare has been more challenging this year.

Lucinda Powell, education consultant and psychology trainer, suggests five ideas and revision activities to keep your students engaged and enthusiastic.

Each of the ideas is also expanded upon in a podcast - these can also be accessed via her blog.

You might also find our latest podcast with Dr Susie Nyman helpful. Susie discusses preparing students for exams, revision plans and maintaining students' focus on exams. She also shares her students' top strategies for achieving good mental health and wellbeing.

Five ideas and revision activities blog
Students: advance information and revision

Here's a handy reminder of the advance information for summer 2022 exams - please encourage students to use this for their subjects when revising.

If you haven't already, please do share our 'Preparing for exams' student guide, top tips for successful revision, 'How to manage your time' infographic and 'Procrastination – how to beat it' infographic with your students.
Female student

Our podcast with Tanya Nicholas, teacher and adolescent wellbeing coach, also provides some practical tips on making a revision plan.

We recently launched our new Instagram account to support students revising and to share mental health and wellbeing tips. Please share this news with your students and their parents.

BBC Bitesize has also provided some information on advance information by subject, and some great revision material.

Student revision support
Teachers: resources to support assessment
Female teacher at front of classroom

ExamBuilder is perfect for creating bespoke tests - you can prepare short classroom topic tests, revision tests or bespoke full size question papers to use when preparing students for exams.

Subject Advisor, Neil Ogden, shares some tips and support for those new to using it.

Find past papers, mark schemes, examiner reports, and practice materials to help you prepare for exams using our 'Past paper materials finder'.

All our subject-specific blogs are now available to support you with NEA marking and moderation - these are a great tool if it's your first year marking, or if you'd like a refresher. Please submit your marks by the following deadlines:

  • 15 May - All qualifications (except AS, A Level and GCSE PE* and AS/A Level Art and Design)
  • 31 May - AS and A Level Art and Design

* AS, A Level and GCSE PE submission deadline was 31 March 2022

Our Subject Advisors also regularly publish subject-specific blogs. Recent blogs include:

Explore blogs   Getting the most from ExamBuilder
Cambridge Nationals and Cambridge Technicals - unit level adaptations and work completed at home

For all Cambridge Nationals and Cambridge Technicals students due to take assessments in 2021/22, we introduced unit level adaptations that allow alternative approaches to produce work for assessment and permission to produce work from home.

These adaptations are available to all students regardless of which year they complete their qualification. However, as we confirmed when we first announced this, the adaptations can only be used in the academic year 2021/22. These adaptations cannot be used for any assessments beyond 2021/22 and will be withdrawn after this summer.
Happy male student

If you're able to submit these units for moderation this academic year, 2021/22, please do so. If you are not able to do this, please contact us now.

Contact us 

Reminder: Completing unit recording sheets

When you’re filling in your unit recording sheet (URS) during marking, please indicate the learning outcomes where any unit adaptations have been used, including where work has been completed at home.

The unit level adaptations can be found in the Changes for 2022 section of each qualification page for Cambridge Nationals and Cambridge Technicals.

Annotating the URS identifies to the moderator, and to us, the conditions the work was completed under and is a requirement for students producing work at home. A reminder of this guidance can be found on our website.
Cambridge Nationals and Cambridge Technicals - requesting a reduction in assessment
Drama A Level students

Our new ‘reduction in assessment’ area of Interchange is now available until 15 May 2022 for you to:

  • Tell us which Cambridge Nationals and/or Cambridge Technicals units you are using the reduction in assessment for
  • Upload your Head of Centre declaration

A step-by-step guide for using the reduction in assessment area is available on our website. We have also provided an FAQ which includes links to video guides. A quick reference guide to the process for requesting a reduction in assessment can be found in our infographics below:

Read FAQ
Cyber security: free checks for schools

The National Cyber Security Centre is offering free Web Check and Mail Check services that can help protect schools from cyber attacks.

Their latest blog post outlines the services.

Find out more
laptop
We're currently recruiting examiners! 
Examiner Recruitment icons - 4 people and laptop

Becoming an examiner will:

  • fit around your existing home and work life commitments
  • enhance your teaching skills by helping you gain an improved understanding of the examination process for your subject area
  • gain an invaluable insight into assessment which will underpin your professional development
  • provide an extra income

Don't worry if you've not examined with us before. We’ll make sure you are fully trained so you understand the exam process and your part in it. There will also be standardisation activities to make sure you can apply the mark scheme consistently.

If you're interested in examining with us, check out our vacancies.

Examiner vacancies

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