This website has now moved. The GCSE Science website offered a wide range of information and support for centres before OCR's highly acclaimed new GCSE science courses started and during the first two years of teaching (from September 2006).
The same information is still available to you, as we have incorporated the original website into the main OCR website.
A link to the forum can be found to the right of this page.
Please contact us on 01223 553998 or email general.qualifications@ocr.org.uk for any of the following:
From September 2006, OCR introduced the Gateway and Twenty First Century Science Suites which along with Environmental and Land-based Science make up the GCSE Science qualifications available.
Read the overview text below for more information about GCSE Science or go to our GCSE Science Explained page.
This page lists all current qualifications for GCSE Science. To access documents and information related to GCSE Science, click on the qualification name.
The specifications in the Gateway suite emphasise explanations, theories and modelling in science along with the implications of science for society. Strong emphasis is placed on the active involvement of students in the learning process and the specification encourages a wide range of teaching and learning activities.
This is achieved by:
In each specification there are three units of assessment: two externally set and marked unit examinations, each testing three teaching modules, and one internally assessed coursework unit. The reduced assessment burden allows for staged or terminal schemes of assessment.
The content of this suite is based on a project devised by the University of York Science Education Group (UYSEG) as part of a QCA project on Science in the 21st Century.
This suite is supported by The Nuffield Curriculum Centre and The University of York Science Education Group.
Accredited specifications and SAMs for GCSEs (for first teaching in 2009) available.
Free Get Ready events available to guide you through the GCSE changes.